Vanguard Group Inc. Has $952.90 Million Stake in Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX)

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 37,354,009 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 231,114 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.06% of Royalty Pharma worth $952,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RPRX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 11.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 32,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 10.8% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 30,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $868,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 186.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 445,937 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,580,000 after buying an additional 290,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new position in Royalty Pharma in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,300,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on RPRX. TD Cowen raised shares of Royalty Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.60.

Royalty Pharma Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RPRX opened at $31.37 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.44 and its 200-day moving average is $28.84. The company has a market cap of $18.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.63, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. Royalty Pharma plc has a 52-week low of $24.05 and a 52-week high of $34.20.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma plc will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost 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 2.81%. Royalty Pharma’s 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.