Heartland Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Royalty Pharma by 121.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 213,989 shares valued at about $8.27 million.
• Institutional interest in RPRX remains strong, with several other hedge funds and asset managers boosting positions and 54.35% of the stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Royalty Pharma’s stock has been trading near its 52-week high, and the company reported quarterly EPS of $1.30, beating estimates; it also pays a quarterly dividend that annualizes to $0.94 per share.

Heartland Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 121.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 213,989 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 117,436 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $8,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of RPRX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in Royalty Pharma by 367.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 203,760 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $6,342,000 after purchasing an additional 160,191 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Royalty Pharma by 20.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,990 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 13,489 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma during the first quarter valued at $264,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Royalty Pharma by 41.0% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,992 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 13,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Royalty Pharma by 21.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,559,378 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $56,184,000 after purchasing an additional 274,960 shares in the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Royalty Pharma

In other news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 64,399 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $3,476,258.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 13,684 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.75, for a total value of $721,831.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,197 shares in the company, valued at $959,891.75. This trade represents a 42.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 199,185 shares of company stock valued at $10,082,926. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of Royalty Pharma stock opened at $54.52 on Thursday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $51.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.39. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 52 week low of $33.59 and a 52 week high of $56.50. The company has a market capitalization of $31.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.08. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 29.25% and a net margin of 33.88%.The firm had revenue of $630.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $881.69 million. As a group, analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Royalty Pharma's payout ratio is 63.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on RPRX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Royalty Pharma from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Royalty Pharma from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $53.71.

Royalty Pharma Company Profile

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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