Royalty Pharma Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:RPRX)

Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 4,237 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 344% compared to the typical volume of 954 put options.

Royalty Pharma Stock Down 0.9 %

RPRX opened at $31.37 on Friday. The firm 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.84. Royalty Pharma has a twelve month low of $24.05 and a twelve month high of $34.20.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.15 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Royalty Pharma will post 4.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. This is a positive change from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is currently 60.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RPRX. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royalty Pharma in a research note on Friday. 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 issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $41.60.

Institutional Trading of Royalty Pharma

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings 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 worth $432,862,000 after acquiring an additional 5,069,127 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 10.3% during the fourth 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 position in shares of Royalty Pharma by 0.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,516,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $269,215,000 after purchasing an additional 29,451 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,312,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $186,846,000 after purchasing an additional 46,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $124,498,000. 54.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.