Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors cut its Royalty Pharma stake by 24.6% in the first quarter, selling 224,855 shares and retaining 689,194 shares worth approximately $33.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 54.35% of RPRX.
• Royalty Pharma insiders sold 393,009 shares worth about $21.6 million over the past three months, including a 100,000-share sale by EVP Christopher Hite under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with seven Buy ratings and a consensus price target of $56.57. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share, representing a 1.6% annualized yield.

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 24.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 689,194 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 224,855 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned 0.12% of Royalty Pharma worth $33,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 173.4% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 689 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the period. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 52.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 832 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 34.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,094 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Royalty Pharma

In related news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were 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 directly owned 459,399 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,965,231.48. This trade represents a 17.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gregory Norden sold 3,045 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $161,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 191,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,165,559. This represents a 1.56% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 393,009 shares of company stock worth $21,601,827. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Royalty Pharma from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group boosted 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. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.57.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of Royalty Pharma stock opened at $57.17 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $56.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.05. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 52 week low of $34.08 and a 52 week high of $60.44. The company has a market capitalization of $32.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.89, a PEG ratio of 10.35 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, beating 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 company had revenue of $630.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $881.69 million. As a group, analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Royalty Pharma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.95%.

Royalty Pharma 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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