Marathon Asset Management Ltd Has $15 Million Stake in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Key Points

• Marathon Asset Management trimmed its Royalty Pharma stake by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 388,226 shares valued at about $15 million.
• Royalty Pharma has seen heavy institutional ownership and recent insider selling, including notable sales by CFO Terrance P. Coyne and EVP Marshall Urist under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Analysts remain bullish: several firms raised price targets, and Royalty Pharma currently carries a consensus Buy rating with an average target price of $53.71.

Marathon Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 388,226 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 37,846 shares during the period. Marathon Asset Management Ltd owned 0.07% of Royalty Pharma worth $15,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 868.1% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 881 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 16.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,499 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Royalty Pharma during the 3rd quarter valued at about $100,000. 54.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Royalty Pharma

In other Royalty Pharma news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 34,791 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.78, for a total value of $1,731,895.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.06, for a total transaction of $726,073.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 31,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,691,605.86. This trade represents a 30.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 155,893 shares of company stock worth $7,512,360. Company insiders own 18.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on RPRX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday, February 12th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Royalty Pharma presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $53.71.

Royalty Pharma Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:RPRX opened at $52.41 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $48.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.61. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 12-month low of $32.15 and a 12-month high of $53.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick 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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 $631.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $881.69 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Royalty Pharma's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.95%.

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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