Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Royalty Pharma Put Options (NASDAQ:RPRX)

Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ:RPRX) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 4,237 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 344% compared to the typical volume of 954 put options.

Institutional Trading of Royalty Pharma

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Royalty Pharma by 5.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,460,515 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $40,705,000 after purchasing an additional 70,130 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Royalty Pharma by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,131,628 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $79,888,000 after buying an additional 130,025 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Royalty Pharma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,355,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Royalty Pharma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,950,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royalty Pharma by 303.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 539,995 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,926,000 after purchasing an additional 406,123 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.35% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Royalty Pharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royalty Pharma has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.60.

Royalty Pharma Price Performance

Royalty Pharma stock opened at $31.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.47. Royalty Pharma has a one year low of $24.05 and a one year high of $34.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.82.

Royalty Pharma (NASDAQ:RPRX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Royalty Pharma will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

Royalty Pharma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. This is a boost from Royalty Pharma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Royalty Pharma’s payout ratio is presently 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.