California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 302,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,999 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $39,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 61.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Royal Gold by 390.7% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Royal Gold Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $164.56 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $150.16 and its 200 day moving average is $145.23. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12 month low of $118.00 and a 12 month high of $164.96. The company has a market capitalization of $10.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.84.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is currently 35.71%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In related news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. This trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Company 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.