Swiss National Bank Sells 15,000 Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD - Free Report) TSE: RGL by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 129,400 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 15,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.20% of Royal Gold worth $15,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 12,032.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 183,685 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $22,219,000 after acquiring an additional 182,171 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,280,676 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $455,165,000 after buying an additional 54,449 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Royal Gold by 28.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 236,621 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,160,000 after buying an additional 51,795 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Royal Gold by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 193,518 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $23,408,000 after acquiring an additional 35,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Gold by 261.9% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 47,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,021,000 after acquiring an additional 34,175 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Randy Shefman sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.18, for a total value of $52,090.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 9,473 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $986,897.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Royal Gold Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of RGLD stock traded up $1.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $127.24. 396,952 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 427,784. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.31. Royal Gold, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.55 and a fifty-two week high of $138.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.76. The firm has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 6.99 and a beta of 0.88.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD - Get Free Report) TSE: RGL last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $148.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $147.02 million. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 8.18% and a net margin of 39.53%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 4th. Royal Gold's payout ratio is 43.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on RGLD shares. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Royal Gold from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Royal Gold in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $117.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Royal Gold from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $141.14.

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.