Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Boosts Stock Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Royal Gold were worth $3,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 0.4% in the fourth 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 during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its position in shares of Royal Gold by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 88,230 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,633,000 after acquiring an additional 7,634 shares during the period. Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc. now owns 86,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,468,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Royal Gold by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 32,879 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,369,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Royal Gold by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 25,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the period. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on RGLD. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank upgraded Royal Gold from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total value 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 trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $185.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 1-year low of $118.00 and a 1-year high of $189.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $155.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.06.

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

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.71%.

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.