Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 201.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,388 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 6,939 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Royal Gold were worth $1,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Royal Gold by 390.7% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 368 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 395 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Royal Gold by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 574 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RGLD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded Royal Gold from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Royal Gold from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $183.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. This trade represents a 12.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of Royal Gold stock traded down $3.11 on Tuesday, reaching $173.66. 409,634 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 424,675. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $176.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.42. The company has a market cap of $11.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.44. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.72 and a 1-year high of $191.78.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $193.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.17 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 46.15% and a return on equity of 11.46%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.80%.

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.