Gotham Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,310 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,482 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Royal Gold worth $7,424,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in RGLD. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in Royal Gold by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 1,585 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Royal Gold by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 21,112 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,784,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Royal Gold by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 12,894 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,700,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 21,772 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,871,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,300 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,413,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Gold 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 value of $201,474.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,360 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on RGLD. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Royal Gold in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $196.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $202.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $183.00.

Royal Gold Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD traded up $1.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $171.14. The stock had a trading volume of 606,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 416,566. The company has a market capitalization of $11.26 billion, a PE ratio of 33.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $169.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.29. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.14. The firm 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 firm's revenue was up 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

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

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.