Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc Cuts Stock Holdings in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc cut its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY - Free Report) TSE: RY by 87.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,814 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,222 shares during the quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc's holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ruggaard & Associates LLC lifted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 4,685 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $565,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,860 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 12,466 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,502,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,904 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,194,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 2,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Down 0.3%

RY stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $126.97. 894,953 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,135,435. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.58 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.89. Royal Bank of Canada has a one year low of $102.44 and a one year high of $129.46. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $119.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.76. 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 (NYSE:RY - Get Free Report) TSE: RY last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 29th. The financial services provider reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.25 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $11.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.77 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a net margin of 12.08% and a return on equity of 15.26%. Royal Bank of Canada's revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Royal Bank of Canada will post 9.16 EPS for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, July 24th will be given a $1.1152 dividend. This represents a $4.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada's previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RY has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 31st. CIBC reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating on the stock. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, National Bank Financial cut Royal Bank of Canada from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Bank of Canada currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $156.50.

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.