Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $41.72 and last traded at $41.68, with a volume of 3464713 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RPRX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Royalty Pharma from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 10th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Leerink Partners set a $45.00 price target on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.50.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 3.48 and a quick ratio of 3.48. The company has a market cap of $24.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.68.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.06. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 26.36% and a net margin of 32.51%.The firm had revenue of $609.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $765.01 million. Research analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royalty Pharma

In related news, EVP George W. Lloyd sold 30,654 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.50, for a total value of $1,180,179.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 69,582 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.35, for a total transaction of $2,738,051.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 36,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,993.50. The trade was a 65.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,045,675 shares of company stock worth $40,833,596. 18.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of RPRX. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,212,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $960,064,000 after acquiring an additional 5,332,074 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Royalty Pharma by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,200,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $430,426,000 after purchasing an additional 42,800 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,272,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $362,423,000 after purchasing an additional 77,815 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 2.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,176,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $299,494,000 after buying an additional 177,036 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $181,388,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

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.