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

Barclays PLC lowered its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 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 large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RGLD. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 2.5% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 26,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,659,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 61.1% during the third 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. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the third quarter worth about $268,000. Stansberry Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stansberry Asset Management LLC now owns 2,986 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Royal Gold by 14.6% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 50,346 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,064,000 after acquiring an additional 6,428 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RGLD traded down $1.55 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $134.10. The stock had a trading volume of 466,278 shares, compared to its average volume of 373,475. The business's 50 day moving average is $146.86 and its 200-day moving average is $138.69. Royal Gold, Inc. has a one year low of $100.55 and a one year high of $155.10. The company has a market cap of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.89.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.12 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 39.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. This is an increase from Royal Gold's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.