Ameriprise Financial Inc. Lowers Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,288 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,724 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.13% of Royal Gold worth $10,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in RGLD. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the fourth quarter worth $455,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,986 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,317,000 after buying an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Royal Gold by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,273 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $168,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Royal Gold by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 8,913 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 2,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. increased its stake in Royal Gold by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 110,872 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $15,166,000 after acquiring an additional 6,169 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Royal Gold Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $171.14 on Monday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $169.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.46. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.72 and a 12-month high of $191.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.48.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.14. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 11.46% and a net margin of 46.15%. The firm had revenue of $193.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $176.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RGLD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank raised Royal Gold from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. CIBC increased their target price on Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Royal Gold in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note 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 company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $183.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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.

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