Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Boosts Stock Holdings in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden increased its stake in Royalty Pharma by 42.2% in the first quarter, buying an additional 49,900 shares and bringing its total holding to 168,250 shares worth about $8.1 million.
• Several analysts remain upbeat on RPRX, with multiple firms raising price targets and seven analysts rating the stock a Buy. MarketBeat reports a consensus Buy rating and an average target price of $53.71.
• Insider activity has included notable selling, including EVP Christopher Hite’s sale of 100,000 shares under a Rule 10b5-1 plan. Despite that, Royalty Pharma posted better-than-expected EPS of $1.30 in its latest quarter and pays a quarterly dividend yielding about 1.6%.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its stake in Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 42.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,250 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 49,900 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $8,071,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 13,113 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 9,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 43,287 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,673,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 24,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its stake in Royalty Pharma by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 832 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.35% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RPRX has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Royalty Pharma from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $53.71.

Insider Activity

In other Royalty Pharma news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.52, for a total transaction of $5,652,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 459,399 shares in the company, valued at $25,965,231.48. The trade was a 17.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gregory Norden sold 3,045 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $161,385.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 191,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,165,559. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 427,800 shares of company stock worth $23,333,723 in the last ninety days. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ RPRX opened at $57.77 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $53.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.30. Royalty Pharma PLC has a fifty-two week low of $34.08 and a fifty-two week high of $57.80. The company has a market cap of $33.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $630.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $881.69 million. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 33.88% and a return on equity of 29.25%. Sell-side analysts predict that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Royalty Pharma's dividend payout ratio is 63.95%.

About Royalty Pharma

Royalty Pharma plc is a specialty finance company that acquires biopharmaceutical royalty interests and provides non-dilutive financing to drug developers and rights holders. The firm purchases future royalty streams, milestone-contingent payments and other revenue rights linked to approved and late-stage pharmaceutical and biotechnology products. By paying upfront consideration for these rights, Royalty Pharma seeks to generate long-term cash flows tied to the commercial performance of a diversified portfolio of medicines.

The company's transaction structures include outright royalty purchases, structured financings and milestone arrangements tailored to the needs of innovator companies, academic institutions and investors.

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