Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 73.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,942 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 19,152 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $915,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RGLD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 61.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 390.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Royal Gold by 66.7% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James increased their price objective on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.75.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of RGLD stock opened at $156.98 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $151.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $145.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.00 and a 1-year high of $169.00.

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

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is 35.71%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. The trade was a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Company Profile

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.