Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 173,411 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 9,177 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $4,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RPRX. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 11,027,370 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $311,964,000 after acquiring an additional 213,900 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 3.7% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 25,091 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 96.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 343,150 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,708,000 after purchasing an additional 168,905 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,140,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,268,000 after purchasing an additional 17,000 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma in the 3rd quarter worth about $359,000. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, TD Cowen raised shares of Royalty Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $41.60.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of Royalty Pharma stock opened at $33.41 on Thursday. Royalty Pharma plc has a 1 year low of $24.05 and a 1 year high of $34.20. The company has a market cap of $19.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.65.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 37.94% and a return on equity of 24.40%. As a group, analysts expect that Royalty Pharma plc will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is 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.