Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX Shares Bought by Swiss National Bank

Key Points

• Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Royalty Pharma by 5.8% in the first quarter, buying 65,700 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 1,191,100 shares worth about $57.1 million.
• Insider selling was notable, with Director Gregory Norden and CFO Terrance P. Coyne among those who sold shares; insiders sold 427,800 shares worth about $23.3 million over the last quarter.
• Analysts remain upbeat on RPRX, with several firms raising price targets and the consensus rating staying at “Buy”; the stock recently traded up 2.0% and opened at $58.42.

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,191,100 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 65,700 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.21% of Royalty Pharma worth $57,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 13,113 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $521,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its position in Royalty Pharma by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 9,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Royalty Pharma by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 43,287 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,673,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC grew its stake in Royalty Pharma by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 24,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $943,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,094 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gregory Norden sold 3,045 shares of the 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 transaction, the director directly 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 sale 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, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 64,399 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.98, for a total value of $3,476,258.02. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 427,800 shares of company stock worth $23,333,723 over the last quarter. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RPRX has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings lowered Royalty Pharma from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Royalty Pharma from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.57.

Royalty Pharma Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of RPRX opened at $58.42 on Wednesday. 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 PLC has a 12-month low of $34.08 and a 12-month high of $59.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $55.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.74, a P/E/G ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.43.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 33.88% and a return on equity of 29.25%. The firm had revenue of $630.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $881.69 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

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