Squarepoint Ops LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Key Points

• Squarepoint Ops LLC cut its Royalty Pharma stake by 75.8% in the second quarter, selling 1,022,875 shares and retaining 326,641 shares valued at approximately $18.3 million.
• Institutional ownership remains significant at 54.35%, while insiders sold 398,197 shares worth about $22.5 million over the past three months, including sales by executives under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Royalty Pharma reported quarterly EPS of $1.32, beating estimates, and declared a $0.235 quarterly dividend. Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with a $61.29 price target.

Squarepoint Ops LLC reduced its position in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 75.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 326,641 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,022,875 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned about 0.06% of Royalty Pharma worth $18,315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Royalty Pharma by 26.5% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,456 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 117,853 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $6,608,000 after buying an additional 7,565 shares in the last quarter. West Family Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 2nd quarter worth about $240,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 5,065.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,204,424 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,198,192,000 after buying an additional 38,445,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,557 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.97, for a total transaction of $5,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 370,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,212,947.97. This represents a 21.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 9,099 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.88, for a total value of $508,452.12. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 398,197 shares of company stock valued at $22,513,280. 18.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

RPRX stock opened at $60.59 on Thursday. Royalty Pharma PLC has a twelve month low of $34.63 and a twelve month high of $64.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $59.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.49.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.05. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 32.14% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The firm had revenue of $674.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $758.93 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Royalty Pharma's dividend payout ratio is 64.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.29.

About Royalty Pharma

Royalty Pharma plc is a biopharmaceutical royalty company that provides funding to life sciences companies in exchange for rights to receive future royalty payments from commercialized or late-stage therapies. Rather than developing and marketing medicines itself, the company invests in pharmaceutical and biotechnology innovations and seeks to generate income from the resulting royalty streams.

Its portfolio is linked to a range of therapies across areas including oncology, immunology, neuroscience, rare diseases and other specialty markets.

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