Royalty Pharma PLC $RPRX Shares Purchased by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma PLC (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 544,214 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,029 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Royalty Pharma worth $20,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Augustine Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 4.4% in the second quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,722 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in Royalty Pharma by 1.0% in the second quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 33,139 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 19.2% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,137 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 17.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Saturday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Royalty Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen cut Royalty Pharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP George W. Lloyd sold 132,426 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.34, for a total value of $5,077,212.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Terrance P. Coyne sold 69,594 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.30, for a total value of $2,735,044.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,152,068. The trade was a 55.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 344,196 shares of company stock valued at $13,344,707. Insiders own 18.90% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of RPRX opened at $40.18 on Monday. Royalty Pharma PLC has a 12-month low of $24.05 and a 12-month high of $41.24. The stock has a market cap of $23.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.44, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.18.

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 net margin of 32.51% and a return on equity of 26.36%. The business had revenue of $609.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $765.01 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Royalty Pharma PLC will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

About Royalty Pharma

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.