Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 22,015 Shares of Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Key Points

• Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Royalty Pharma by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 22,015 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 233,320 shares valued at about $9.0 million.
• Insider selling continued recently, with Director Gregory Norden and CFO Terrance P. Coyne among executives who sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans; insiders sold 155,893 shares worth $7.5 million over the past three months.
• Royalty Pharma posted better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $1.30 versus estimates of $1.22, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Buy rating and a price target of $53.71. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.235 per share, yielding about 1.8% annually.

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 233,320 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,015 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $9,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 367.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 203,760 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $6,342,000 after acquiring an additional 160,191 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 20.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 79,990 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 13,489 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in Royalty Pharma in the 1st quarter worth $264,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 41.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,992 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 13,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,559,378 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $56,184,000 after acquiring an additional 274,960 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.35% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Royalty Pharma

In related news, Director Gregory Norden sold 3,045 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $161,385.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 191,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,165,559. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 34,791 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.78, for a total transaction of $1,731,895.98. 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. Insiders sold a total of 155,893 shares of company stock valued at $7,512,360 in the last three months. Company insiders own 18.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RPRX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Royalty Pharma from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Royalty Pharma from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.71.

Royalty Pharma Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:RPRX opened at $52.41 on Wednesday. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 12 month low of $32.15 and a 12 month high of $53.47. The stock has a market cap of $30.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $48.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.61. 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 (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.08. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 33.88% and a return on equity of 29.25%. The company had revenue of $631.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $881.69 million. Equities analysts predict that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Royalty Pharma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.95%.

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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