Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX Shares Sold by Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.

Key Points

• Cooper Investors trimmed its stake in Royalty Pharma by 5.4% in Q4, selling 21,996 shares and now holds 386,440 shares worth about $14.93 million, making RPRX its fourth-largest position (~5.0% of the fund).
• Insiders have been selling: EVP Marshall Urist sold 20,000 shares and CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 34,791 shares, with insiders offloading 532,287 shares (~$22.2M) in the last 90 days and the CFO's ownership down ~44.22%.
• Analysts maintain a consensus Buy rating with an average target of $48.67; the company beat EPS estimates but missed revenue last quarter and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.235 (annualized $0.94, ~2.0% yield).

Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. lowered its stake in Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 386,440 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 21,996 shares during the quarter. Royalty Pharma makes up approximately 5.0% of Cooper Investors PTY Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Cooper Investors PTY Ltd. owned approximately 0.07% of Royalty Pharma worth $14,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 868.1% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 881 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 44.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on RPRX shares. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Royalty Pharma from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Royalty Pharma from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners set a $45.00 target price on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $48.67.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

RPRX stock opened at $46.35 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.74 billion, a PE ratio of 34.33 and a beta of 0.40. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 1-year low of $29.66 and a 1-year high of $47.86. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $44.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.28.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.13. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 28.21% and a net margin of 32.38%.The business had revenue of $621.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $839.97 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Royalty Pharma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Royalty Pharma's dividend payout ratio is 69.63%.

Insider Transactions at Royalty Pharma

In related news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 20,000 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.09, for a total transaction of $821,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 34,791 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.53, for a total transaction of $1,584,034.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 43,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,129.58. This represents a 44.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 532,287 shares of company stock valued at $22,215,917. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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