Royalty Pharma Short Sellers Add Positions Ahead of Q3 Results

Short sellers have been building their position in RPRX steadily over the past month. Shares short now total around 12.7 million, equal to 3.0% of the free float, up roughly 10% over the past 30 days and 2.2% on the week.

The lending market tells a different story from the positioning data. Availability is exceptionally loose, with more than 7,100% of outstanding short interest still available to borrow, well above the 52-week floor of 1,311%. Borrowing costs remain near historic lows at 0.41% annualised, up around 11% on the week but still negligible in absolute terms. The combination of rising short interest against that backdrop of easy, cheap borrow suggests the increase in positions reflects a measured tactical view rather than any structural squeeze risk.

Options positioning reinforces the lack of urgency on the bearish side. The put/call ratio of 0.14 is fractionally below its 20-day average of 0.15 and near the bottom of its 52-week range, which ran as high as 1.44. That points to call-heavy positioning into the print, with no meaningful rotation into downside protection.

RPRX closed at $66.40 on November 3, up 1.7% on the week. That gain came alongside a 16% rally over the past month, but it trailed the median weekly advance of 4.3% across its closest peers, with MRK up 5.5%, LLY adding 10.3%, and AZN rising 7.8% in the same window.

Two Schedule 13D filers sit on the register. Pablo Legorreta, the company's founder and CEO, last disclosed an 18.73% stake in August, down from 19.74% previously. A trust associated with Mario Giuliani filed a 13D/A in June showing 4.8%, reduced from 5.7%, a level that may have since fallen below the 5% disclosure threshold without a further filing. As-last-disclosed stakes are event-driven around that threshold, and silent exits are common once a holder drops below it. The Morgan Stanley target lift to $67 in early October, maintaining Overweight, left the consensus price target at $65.38, a fraction below current levels, suggesting the Street's formal upside has been largely absorbed by the recent run.

The print will test whether the royalty portfolio's cash generation has kept pace with a stock that has re-rated sharply higher, and whether guidance can justify a valuation that the analyst consensus no longer places materially above the current price.