Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $32.92 and last traded at $32.69, with a volume of 112537 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen upgraded Royalty Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.67.

Royalty Pharma Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $28.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.49.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.16. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 24.40% and a net margin of 37.94%. Analysts forecast 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 Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is presently 57.93%.

Institutional Trading of Royalty Pharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 16,968,321 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $432,862,000 after buying an additional 5,069,127 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,164,170 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $310,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,800 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,516,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $269,215,000 after purchasing an additional 29,451 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,312,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $186,846,000 after purchasing an additional 46,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the fourth quarter worth $124,498,000. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.