ProShare Advisors LLC Trims Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 260,403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,264 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.40% of Royal Gold worth $31,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commerce Bank boosted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 2,356 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Royal Gold by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 23,255 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,813,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Royal Gold by 16.5% during the first quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 45,382 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,825,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 83.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Royal Gold

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.73, for a total value of $196,095.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,840 shares in the company, valued at $1,940,033.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Royal Gold Stock Performance

RGLD traded down $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $139.58. The stock had a trading volume of 239,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 402,461. Royal Gold, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.55 and a twelve month high of $140.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.32, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $127.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.16.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.04). Royal Gold had a return on equity of 7.96% and a net margin of 38.12%. The firm had revenue of $148.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $147.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Gold Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 5th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Royal Gold’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RGLD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Royal Gold from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Royal Gold from $168.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. CIBC boosted their price objective on Royal Gold from $166.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Royal Gold to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.75.

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.