Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 154,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,382 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.24% of Royal Gold worth $20,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 25,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,425,000 after buying an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,577,000. Orion Investment Co lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 64.4% during the fourth quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 21,516 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,837,000 after purchasing an additional 8,431 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 36,988 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,877,000 after purchasing an additional 11,023 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth $2,918,000. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on RGLD. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. This trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Gold Trading Up 5.8 %

RGLD opened at $164.54 on Thursday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.00 and a 1-year high of $169.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a 50 day moving average of $153.07 and a 200-day moving average of $146.11.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. Equities analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.71%.

About Royal Gold

Royal Gold, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, acquires and manages precious metal streams, royalties, and related interests. The company engages in acquiring stream and royalty interests or to finance projects that are in production, development, or in the exploration stage in exchange for stream or royalty interests, which primarily consists of gold, silver, copper, nickel, zinc, lead, and other metals.