9,000 Shares in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Purchased by Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,187,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,825,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,009,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,536,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Royal Gold by 181.6% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 302,206 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $39,846,000 after buying an additional 194,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Royal Gold by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,029,431 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $135,730,000 after buying an additional 168,569 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. CIBC raised their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets set a $197.00 target price on shares of Royal Gold and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $183.13.

Royal Gold Stock Up 2.2%

RGLD traded up $3.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $180.59. 389,178 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 417,843. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.89 billion, a PE ratio of 35.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.48. The stock's 50-day moving average is $172.11 and its 200 day moving average is $153.45. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.72 and a 12 month high of $191.78.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $193.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $176.17 million. Royal Gold had a net margin of 46.15% and a return on equity of 11.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 29.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 3rd will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 3rd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Royal Gold's payout ratio is currently 29.80%.

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.