Certuity LLC Raises Position in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Certuity LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 17.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 377 shares during the quarter. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RY. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 75.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,866,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,229,834,000 after purchasing an additional 7,702,585 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 165.1% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,896,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $361,532,000 after buying an additional 1,804,022 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the third quarter worth $153,217,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 9.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,390,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,616,000 after buying an additional 541,760 shares during the period. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 18.2% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,336,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,925,000 after buying an additional 359,719 shares during the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on RY shares. StockNews.com lowered Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Royal Bank of Canada from $195.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. TD Securities downgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank of Canada currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

Shares of RY opened at $118.31 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $121.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.70. The company has a market capitalization of $167.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.87. Royal Bank of Canada has a fifty-two week low of $93.97 and a fifty-two week high of $128.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.0522 per share. This represents a $4.21 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.76%.

Royal Bank of Canada Profile

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.