Prudential PLC Increases Stock Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Prudential PLC boosted its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 42.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,988 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,023 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $4,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of RGLD. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the fourth quarter valued at $741,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 19,076 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,515,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Royal Gold by 213.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 8,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after buying an additional 5,480 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 484,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,843,000 after acquiring an additional 5,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth about $455,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. This trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Royal Gold Trading Down 7.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD opened at $155.60 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $151.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.53. Royal Gold, Inc. has a twelve month low of $118.00 and a twelve month high of $169.00. The company has a market capitalization of $10.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.