Teacher Retirement System of Texas Lowers Position in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas trimmed its Royalty Pharma stake by 33.5% in Q4, selling 32,742 shares and leaving it with 65,127 shares worth about $2.52 million.
• Significant insider selling occurred recently — EVP Marshall Urist sold 20,000 shares and CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 114,954 shares (an 82.74% decline in his holding), with insiders offloading 367,914 shares worth $16.07 million over the past three months.
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Buy" rating on RPRX with an average price target of $50.33, while firms including UBS and Citigroup have recently raised targets to $57 and $50 respectively.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas cut its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 33.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 65,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 32,742 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $2,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 868.1% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 881 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Royalty Pharma by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,264 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Royalty Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth about $54,000. 54.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royalty Pharma

In other Royalty Pharma news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.09, for a total value of $821,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 114,954 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.84, for a total value of $4,924,629.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 23,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,026,960.48. This represents a 82.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 367,914 shares of company stock valued at $16,074,774. 18.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on RPRX. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Royalty Pharma from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Friday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $50.33.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ RPRX opened at $49.65 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.64 billion, a PE ratio of 36.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 2.40. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 52-week low of $31.97 and a 52-week high of $50.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.16.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 32.38% and a return on equity of 28.21%. The firm had revenue of $621.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $839.97 million. On average, research analysts predict that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

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

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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