Virtu Financial LLC Invests $474,000 in Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Gold, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,380 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of RGLD. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Gold by 13.8% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Royal Gold in the second quarter worth about $427,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 1.8% in the second quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,756 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,221,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Royal Gold in the second quarter worth about $323,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Royal Gold by 34.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 834,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $104,507,000 after acquiring an additional 212,316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $141.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Royal Gold from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Securities lifted their price target on Royal Gold from $181.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Royal Gold from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Gold has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $165.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Gold news, SVP Daniel Breeze sold 549 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,443,950. This represents a 3.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William M. Hayes sold 1,984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.05, for a total value of $291,747.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,268 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,859.40. This represents a 17.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Gold Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:RGLD opened at $146.93 on Monday. Royal Gold, Inc. has a 12 month low of $100.55 and a 12 month high of $155.10. The stock has a market cap of $9.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $146.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.47.

Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) (TSE:RGL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.13. Royal Gold had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 42.93%. The firm had revenue of $193.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Gold, Inc. will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Royal Gold Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from Royal Gold’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Royal Gold’s payout ratio is presently 36.70%.

Royal Gold 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.