Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) Shares Sold by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP lowered its stake in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 89.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,246 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 27,128 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in Royal Gold were worth $428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of RGLD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Royal Gold during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Royal Gold by 390.7% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 368 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Royal Gold by 66.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Human Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.65% of the company's stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Shares of RGLD traded up $5.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $184.53. The company had a trading volume of 501,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 410,455. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.48. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.72 and a 52-week high of $191.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $166.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.20.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The basic materials company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.17. Royal Gold had a net margin of 46.15% and a return on equity of 11.46%. Research analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 4th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was 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 owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. This represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RGLD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James raised their target price 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, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $178.00.

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.