Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Stock Bumped Down to “Buy” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on RPRX. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Royalty Pharma from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Royalty Pharma in a report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Royalty Pharma from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Royalty Pharma from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $61.29.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

RPRX opened at $58.21 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 2.80 and a current ratio of 2.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.44. Royalty Pharma has a 52-week low of $34.63 and a 52-week high of $64.38.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.05. Royalty Pharma had a net margin of 32.14% and a return on equity of 30.01%. The firm had revenue of $674.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $758.93 million. As a group, analysts predict that Royalty Pharma will post 5.32 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.2350 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $0.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.83%.

Insider Activity at Royalty Pharma

In other Royalty Pharma news, EVP Marshall Urist sold 9,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.88, for a total transaction of $508,452.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Christopher Hite sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.53, for a total transaction of $5,853,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 270,401 shares in the company, valued at $15,826,570.53. The trade was a 27.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 339,099 shares of company stock valued at $19,704,252 over the last 90 days. 18.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RPRX. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC lifted its position in Royalty Pharma by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 13,113 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its position in Royalty Pharma by 3.4% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 7,812 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 34.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,094 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 89.2% in the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 876 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 173.4% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 689 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Royalty Pharma

Royalty Pharma plc is a biopharmaceutical royalty company that provides funding to life sciences companies in exchange for rights to receive future royalty payments from commercialized or late-stage therapies. Rather than developing and marketing medicines itself, the company invests in pharmaceutical and biotechnology innovations and seeks to generate income from the resulting royalty streams.

Its portfolio is linked to a range of therapies across areas including oncology, immunology, neuroscience, rare diseases and other specialty markets.