Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) Shares Acquired by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 41.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,847 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,817 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 4,335.5% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 2,688 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 34.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 31,485 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 8,086 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the first quarter valued at approximately $542,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 10.8% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 9,097 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Royalty Pharma in the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RPRX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Royalty Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Royalty Pharma from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royalty Pharma has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.67.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ RPRX opened at $27.10 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.57. The stock has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.46. Royalty Pharma plc has a fifty-two week low of $25.20 and a fifty-two week high of $31.66. The company has a quick ratio of 9.35, a current ratio of 9.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $537.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.83 million. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 23.61% and a net margin of 30.08%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Royalty Pharma plc will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.34%.

Royalty Pharma Company Profile

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.