Eastern Bank Cuts Holdings in Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX

Eastern Bank decreased its position in Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 4.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,287 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,157 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $911,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RPRX. Louisbourg Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma in the first quarter valued at $28,000. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma in the first quarter valued at $36,000. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 41.6% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,539 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

RPRX opened at $36.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.00 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.60. Royalty Pharma PLC has a twelve month low of $24.05 and a twelve month high of $38.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $578.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.06 million. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 44.23% and a return on equity of 25.54%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is presently 50.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RPRX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Royalty Pharma from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and four have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $46.00.

Royalty Pharma Company 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.