Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 333,781 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,009,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in RGLD. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Royal Gold in the 4th quarter worth $18,427,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold in the fourth quarter worth about $11,998,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,651,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $877,058,000 after acquiring an additional 89,298 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Gold by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 178,719 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,074,000 after acquiring an additional 46,615 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Royal Gold by 271.3% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 61,938 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,166,000 after acquiring an additional 45,258 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on RGLD shares. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Gold presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Randy Shefman sold 1,300 shares of Royal Gold stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.98, for a total transaction of $201,474.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,450,612.80. This trade represents a 12.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

Royal Gold stock opened at $155.60 on Friday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $118.00 and a fifty-two week high of $169.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.49. The stock has a market cap of $10.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.87, a PEG ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.