Sei Investments Co. Lowers Stock Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Sei Investments Co. lessened its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,437 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,692 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.13% of Royal Gold worth $11,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 221,771 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,241,000 after acquiring an additional 4,453 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 146.7% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 8,339 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 4,959 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 56,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,422,000 after purchasing an additional 9,402 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its position in Royal Gold by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 13,688 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Royal Gold by 271.3% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 61,938 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,166,000 after purchasing an additional 45,258 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $168.86.

Royal Gold Stock Up 1.6 %

RGLD traded up $2.71 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $167.27. The stock had a trading volume of 842,914 shares, compared to its average volume of 391,176. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.00 and a 1 year high of $169.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $150.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.39. The stock has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. This represents a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.