Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Royalty Pharma was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from “buy” to “strong-buy”, adding to a generally bullish analyst backdrop for the stock.
• Other firms have also turned positive: Citigroup lifted its target to $66, JPMorgan to $58, and Morgan Stanley to $63, while MarketBeat shows an overall Buy consensus with an average target price of $53.71.
• The company reported Q1 EPS of $1.30, beating estimates, and the stock traded up about 1.2% to $50.79; meanwhile, insiders sold shares recently, including CFO Terrance P. Coyne's $1.73 million sale under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised Royalty Pharma from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Royalty Pharma from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $53.71.

Royalty Pharma Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ RPRX opened at $50.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. Royalty Pharma has a twelve month low of $32.15 and a twelve month high of $51.65. The company has a market cap of $29.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. The business's fifty day moving average is $47.62 and its 200 day moving average is $42.75.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $631.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $881.69 million. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 29.25% and a net margin of 33.88%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Royalty Pharma will post 5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royalty Pharma

In other news, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 34,791 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.78, for a total value of $1,731,895.98. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 139,164 shares of company stock valued at $6,624,902. Company insiders own 18.84% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 13,113 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $521,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 9,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 43,287 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,673,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC now owns 24,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 34.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,094 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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