Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 150,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,518 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Royal Gold worth $19,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Royal Gold by 187.5% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 127,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $18,049,000 after acquiring an additional 83,015 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its stake in Royal Gold by 213.1% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 8,051 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 5,480 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,201,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Gold by 114.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 32,268 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,527,000 after purchasing an additional 17,227 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Gold during the 4th quarter worth $455,000. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Royal Gold

In other news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $82,350.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 16,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,950. This represents a 3.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RGLD. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $168.86.

Royal Gold Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ RGLD opened at $151.11 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.00. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.55 and a 52 week high of $155.64. The company has a market cap of $9.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.90.

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

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.