Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Raises Holdings in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 403 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $4,830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in RY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,127,219 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,645,444,000 after purchasing an additional 717,971 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 26,869,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,718,631,000 after purchasing an additional 1,369,723 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 26,666,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,330,506,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062,038 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 12,413,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,088,176,000 after purchasing an additional 106,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,590,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $929,810,000 after purchasing an additional 166,968 shares in the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

NYSE RY traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $101.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,595,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,173. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.51. Royal Bank of Canada has a 52 week low of $77.90 and a 52 week high of $103.88. The stock has a market cap of $144.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.86.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.05. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 12.43%. The company had revenue of $9.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.10 billion. Equities research analysts predict that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 25th will be issued a dividend of $1.0207 per share. This is a boost from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 24th. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.01%. Royal Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is presently 25.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on RY shares. Barclays assumed coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank of Canada currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.67.

About Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. The company's Personal & Commercial Banking segment offers checking and savings accounts, home equity financing, personal lending, private banking, indirect lending, including auto financing, mutual funds and self-directed brokerage accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, credit cards, and payment products and solutions; and lending, leasing, deposit, investment, foreign exchange, cash management, auto dealer financing, trade products, and services to small and medium-sized commercial businesses.