Analysts Set Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) PT at $41.60

Shares of Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.60.

Separately, TD Cowen raised Royalty Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th.

Institutional Trading of Royalty Pharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in Royalty Pharma by 42.6% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 16,968,321 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $432,862,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,127 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,164,170 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $310,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,800 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted 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 acquiring an additional 29,451 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,312,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $186,846,000 after acquiring an additional 46,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Royalty Pharma during the 4th quarter valued at $124,498,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Royalty Pharma Trading Up 1.4 %

RPRX opened at $33.77 on Monday. Royalty Pharma has a twelve month low of $24.05 and a twelve month high of $34.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.32. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $19.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.47.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.16. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 24.40% and a net margin of 37.94%. Analysts predict that Royalty Pharma will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.69%.

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.