Cerity Partners LLC Lowers Position in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY - Free Report) TSE: RY by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,036 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 4,451 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $4,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RY. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,548,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $427,589,000 after acquiring an additional 64,450 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada during the 4th quarter valued at about $60,034,000. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,243,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 1,322.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,010 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $483,000 after buying an additional 3,728 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baskin Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 59,849 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,212,000 after acquiring an additional 14,250 shares in the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on RY. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, CIBC upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Bank of Canada presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $156.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE RY traded up $0.52 on Friday, hitting $116.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,090,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,103,103. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $163.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.82. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $114.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.91. Royal Bank of Canada has a 52-week low of $95.84 and a 52-week high of $128.05.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0251 per share. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada's payout ratio is currently 46.18%.

Royal Bank of Canada Company 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.