Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX - Free Report) by 21.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,018,626 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 286,133 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.17% of Royalty Pharma worth $28,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 1.5% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 48,132,615 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,306,319,000 after acquiring an additional 702,754 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,437,354 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,070,330,000 after acquiring an additional 589,558 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 13.8% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 9,840,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $267,058,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,000 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 1.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,887,567 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $241,209,000 after acquiring an additional 151,396 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 9.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,597,949 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $70,508,000 after acquiring an additional 224,261 shares during the period. 54.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on RPRX. Bank of America cut their price target on Royalty Pharma from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Royalty Pharma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $56.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $46.75.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RPRX traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $27.82. 2,720,407 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,649,465. Royalty Pharma plc has a 12-month low of $25.92 and a 12-month high of $36.19. The company has a current ratio of 7.90, a quick ratio of 7.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72 and a beta of 0.45. The business's fifty day moving average price is $29.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.54.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $736.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $702.90 million. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 26.93% and a net margin of 48.22%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Royalty Pharma plc will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Royalty Pharma's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Royalty Pharma Profile

Royalty Pharma plc operates as a buyer of biopharmaceutical royalties and a funder of innovations in the biopharmaceutical industry in the United States. It is also involved in the identification, evaluation, and acquisition of royalties on various biopharmaceutical therapies. In addition, the company collaborates with innovators from academic institutions, research hospitals and not-for-profits, small and mid-cap biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical companies.