BDF Gestion Lowers Stake in Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX)

BDF Gestion trimmed its stake in Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 33,792 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,389 shares during the quarter. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Royalty Pharma were worth $862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 12,164,170 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $310,308,000 after buying an additional 1,136,800 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Royalty Pharma by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,516,262 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $269,215,000 after acquiring an additional 29,451 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Royalty Pharma by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,265,786 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $205,562,000 after acquiring an additional 417,490 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Royalty Pharma by 44.7% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 3,033,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $85,809,000 after purchasing an additional 936,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 58.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,001,603 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $84,915,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103,341 shares in the last quarter. 54.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on RPRX shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Royalty Pharma from $60.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Royalty Pharma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.67.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

NASDAQ RPRX opened at $31.59 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.47. Royalty Pharma plc has a 52 week low of $24.05 and a 52 week high of $32.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 0.47.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. 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 yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Royalty Pharma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.52%.

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.