Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 14,328 Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Merit Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY - Free Report) TSE: RY by 60.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,326 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 14,328 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $943,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 1.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 53,127,219 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,645,444,000 after acquiring an additional 717,971 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 26,869,809 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,718,631,000 after acquiring an additional 1,369,723 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 13.0% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 3,062,038 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 0.9% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 106,757 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 1.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,590,914 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $929,810,000 after acquiring an additional 166,968 shares during the period. 45.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:RY traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $101.81. The company had a trading volume of 1,595,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,237,173. Royal Bank of Canada has a fifty-two week low of $77.90 and a fifty-two week high of $103.88. The business's fifty day moving average is $99.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $144.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.86.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY - Get Free Report) TSE: RY last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.10 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 24th. This is an increase from Royal Bank of Canada's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. Royal Bank of Canada's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Royal Bank of Canada in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised Royal Bank of Canada from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $140.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Royal Bank of Canada from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank of Canada has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.