Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Shares Sold by MML Investors Services LLC

MML Investors Services LLC trimmed its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 6.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 284 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 34.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 834,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $104,507,000 after buying an additional 212,316 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 806,872 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,991,000 after acquiring an additional 156,048 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Royal Gold by 38.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 483,493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,514,000 after purchasing an additional 134,120 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Royal Gold in the second quarter valued at approximately $15,559,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Royal Gold by 13,968.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 84,694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,883,000 after purchasing an additional 84,092 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ RGLD opened at $133.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.89. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.55 and a 52-week high of $155.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $146.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.85.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.13. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%. The company had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $184.12 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.45 dividend. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 41.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RGLD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their target price on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.