Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $54.74 and last traded at $53.86, with a volume of 2758152 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $54.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RPRX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Royalty Pharma from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Friday, February 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.71.

Royalty Pharma Stock Down 1.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The firm has a market cap of $31.01 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $49.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.17.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by $0.08. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 29.25% and a net margin of 33.88%.The business had revenue of $631.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $881.69 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 5.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.235 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is currently 63.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 13,684 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.06, for a total transaction of $726,073.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 31,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,691,605.86. The trade was a 30.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 34,791 shares of Royalty Pharma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.78, for a total value of $1,731,895.98. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 169,577 shares of company stock worth $8,234,191. 18.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Royalty Pharma by 3.4% during the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 7,812 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $375,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC grew its stake in Royalty Pharma by 597.4% in the first quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 83,688 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,014,000 after purchasing an additional 71,688 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma in the first quarter valued at about $207,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Royalty Pharma by 29.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,495,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $167,696,000 after purchasing an additional 786,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bull Harbor Capital LLC purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma in the first quarter valued at about $280,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

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.