Legal & General Group Plc Has $119.32 Million Stake in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Royalty Pharma by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 265,532 additional shares. It now owns 3,088,098 shares worth about $119.3 million.
• Several analysts remain bullish on Royalty Pharma, with recent price-target hikes from Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and UBS. The stock carries an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $53.71.
• Royalty Pharma reported Q1 earnings of $1.30 per share, beating estimates, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share payable June 10. The stock was trading near its 52-week high at $54.48.

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,088,098 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 265,532 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.53% of Royalty Pharma worth $119,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 832 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 868.1% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 881 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 31.9% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Royalty Pharma by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,499 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royalty Pharma

In other news, Director Gregory Norden sold 3,045 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total value of $161,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 191,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,165,559. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.75, for a total value of $721,831.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,197 shares of the company's stock, valued at $959,891.75. This 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. Insiders sold a total of 233,976 shares of company stock worth $11,710,449 over the last quarter. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on RPRX shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Royalty Pharma from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $53.71.

Royalty Pharma Stock Up 0.9%

RPRX stock opened at $54.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.40. Royalty Pharma PLC has a twelve month low of $32.29 and a twelve month high of $54.74. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $49.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.38. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $630.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $881.69 million. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 29.25% and a net margin of 33.88%. Analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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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