Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $51.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on RPRX. StockNews.com upgraded Royalty Pharma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $42.50.

Royalty Pharma Stock Up 2.7%

NASDAQ:RPRX opened at $34.02 on Friday. 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 market cap of $19.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.01. Royalty Pharma has a 1 year low of $24.05 and a 1 year high of $34.20.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.07. Royalty Pharma had a return on equity of 24.40% and a net margin of 37.94%. The company had revenue of $839.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $724.69 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Royalty Pharma will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is 47.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royalty Pharma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RPRX. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position 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 valued at $432,862,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,127 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $124,498,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 270.4% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,623,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $112,788,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644,923 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,959,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 187.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,903,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $48,563,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240,384 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

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.