Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) Given Consensus Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Royalty Pharma has a consensus “Buy” rating from all eight covering analysts, with an average 12-month price target of approximately $60.86; recent targets from Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs reached $65 and $66, respectively.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $1.32, exceeding the $1.27 consensus estimate, although revenue of $674.14 million fell short of analysts’ $758.93 million forecast.
• RPRX shares traded near their 52-week high at $61.09, while the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.235, or $0.94 annualized, representing a 1.5% yield.

Shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $60.8571.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on RPRX. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Royalty Pharma from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Christopher Hite sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.40, for a total transaction of $8,160,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 559,399 shares in the company, valued at $30,431,305.60. This represents a 21.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Marshall Urist sold 9,099 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.88, for a total value of $508,452.12. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 462,596 shares of company stock worth $25,989,538. Insiders own 18.84% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RPRX. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 5,065.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 39,204,424 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,198,192,000 after acquiring an additional 38,445,382 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Royalty Pharma by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 55,274,069 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,135,790,000 after purchasing an additional 11,110,115 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,104,309 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,201,870,000 after purchasing an additional 3,891,615 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Royalty Pharma in the 4th quarter valued at about $131,923,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 737.3% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,481,771 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $87,557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,366 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.35% of the company's stock.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

Royalty Pharma stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $61.09. The stock had a trading volume of 235,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,491,379. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.87. The company has a quick ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 2.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. Royalty Pharma has a fifty-two week low of $34.08 and a fifty-two week high of $62.13. The company has a market cap of $35.13 billion, a PE ratio of 42.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.43.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $674.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $758.93 million. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 30.01% and a net margin of 32.14%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.235 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Royalty Pharma's payout ratio is 64.83%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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