Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 139,775 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 4,005 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.21% of Royal Gold worth $18,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in 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 worth $41,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased 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 worth $3,659,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,555 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $185,454,000 after acquiring an additional 33,151 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the third quarter valued at approximately $474,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter worth $591,000. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Gold

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,450,612.80. This trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Royal Gold Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:RGLD traded down $1.55 on Friday, hitting $184.90. The stock had a trading volume of 566,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 403,132. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $157.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.64. The stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.69, a PEG 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 $191.22.

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

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Royal Gold's payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RGLD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Royal Gold in a report on Wednesday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $196.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Scotiabank raised shares of Royal Gold from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.00.

About Royal Gold

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.