Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Sets New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $49.12 and last traded at $49.1940, with a volume of 657517 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $48.48.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is currently 69.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RPRX has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Royalty Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings raised Royalty Pharma from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Royalty Pharma currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

Royalty Pharma Stock Up 3.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 2.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.56. The stock has a market cap of $28.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.04, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.39.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $621.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.97 million. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 28.21% and a net margin of 32.38%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royalty Pharma news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 20,000 shares of the 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 is available through this link. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 114,954 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 23,972 shares in the company, valued at $1,026,960.48. The trade was a 82.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 457,496 shares of company stock valued at $19,618,025. 18.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 367.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 203,760 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,342,000 after buying 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 buying an additional 13,489 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new position in Royalty Pharma in the 1st quarter worth approximately $264,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 13,951 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Royalty Pharma by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,559,378 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $56,184,000 after acquiring an additional 274,960 shares during the period. 54.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.