Barclays PLC Cuts Stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Barclays PLC cut its holdings in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,683 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned 0.08% of Royal Gold worth $7,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 61.1% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 51.7% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Royal Gold Trading Down 6.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD opened at $135.65 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $146.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.71. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.55 and a 12 month high of $155.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a PE ratio of 31.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.89.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $193.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 42.93% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Royal Gold’s revenue was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This is a positive change from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 41.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total transaction of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,859.40. This trade represents a 17.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $82,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 16,293 shares in the company, valued at $2,443,950. The trade was a 3.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on RGLD shares. StockNews.com raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.43.

Royal Gold 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.