Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX Holdings Lifted by CM Management LLC

Key Points

• CM Management LLC increased its stake in Royalty Pharma (RPRX) by 50% in Q4 to 75,000 shares (worth $2.898 million), making RPRX the fund's 11th-largest holding; institutional investors now own about 54.35% of the company.
• Royalty Pharma reported Q results with EPS of $1.46 (beat) but revenue of $622 million (missed expectations), and CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 34,791 shares under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan as insiders have sold 382,705 shares over the past 90 days.
• Analysts maintain a consensus Buy rating with an average target of $50.33 (Morgan Stanley raised its target to $63), and the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share (annualized $0.94, ~1.9% yield; ex-dividend May 15).

CM Management LLC grew its position in Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 50.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Royalty Pharma makes up approximately 2.4% of CM Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. CM Management LLC's holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $2,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,212,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $960,064,000 after purchasing an additional 5,332,074 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,272,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $362,423,000 after purchasing an additional 77,815 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,657,407 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $164,313,000 after purchasing an additional 165,727 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,075,239 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $143,774,000 after purchasing an additional 53,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,282,174 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $115,795,000 after purchasing an additional 305,694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.35% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 34,791 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.78, for a total transaction of $1,731,895.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 382,705 shares of company stock worth $16,984,870 over the last ninety days. 18.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on RPRX shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Royalty Pharma from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $50.33.

Royalty Pharma Trading Down 1.2%

Royalty Pharma stock opened at $49.47 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 2.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.54 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.40. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 12-month low of $31.97 and a 12-month high of $50.47.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.13. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 32.38% and a return on equity of 28.21%. The business had revenue of $621.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $839.97 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Royalty Pharma's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.63%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding RPRX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.