Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,695,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 964,898 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 3.94% of Royal Bank of Canada worth $5,618,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canoe Financial LP lifted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 11,061.2% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 151,142,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,285,031,000 after acquiring an additional 149,788,224 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 32,571,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,310,010,000 after purchasing an additional 5,810,077 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 28,024,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,834,219,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,956 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position 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. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 18,790,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,900,217,000 after purchasing an additional 333,333 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus increased their price target on Royal Bank of Canada from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Royal Bank of Canada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Scotiabank raised Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.25.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of RY traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $111.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,723,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 909,978. Royal Bank of Canada has a 12-month low of $77.90 and a 12-month high of $112.67. The stock has a market cap of $157.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average is $106.91 and its 200 day moving average is $101.77.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $10.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.95 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 12.12%. Equities analysts anticipate that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 25th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 25th. This is an increase from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.62%.

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.