First Trust Advisors LP Sells 45,973 Shares of Royal Bank Of Canada $RY

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its position in Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 11.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 349,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 45,973 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Royal Bank Of Canada were worth $51,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Royal Bank Of Canada by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 60.9% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 4,460 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 57.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,284 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 37.8% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 11,590 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,525,000 after purchasing an additional 3,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Bank Of Canada by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. now owns 3,158 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on RY. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Bank Of Canada in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Royal Bank Of Canada in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Royal Bank Of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research lowered Royal Bank Of Canada from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Securities raised Royal Bank Of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.00.

Royal Bank Of Canada Stock Performance

NYSE:RY opened at $165.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.79. Royal Bank Of Canada has a 1 year low of $106.10 and a 1 year high of $176.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.55.

Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The financial services provider reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Royal Bank Of Canada had a net margin of 15.28% and a return on equity of 17.12%. The firm had revenue of $13.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Bank Of Canada will post 9.16 EPS for the current year.

Royal Bank Of Canada Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 23rd will be given a dividend of $1.64 per share. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada’s payout ratio is currently 45.93%.

Royal Bank Of Canada Profile

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY) is a diversified financial services company and one of Canada’s largest banks. Founded in 1864 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the firm is now headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutional clients through a network of branches, digital platforms and international offices.

RBC operates across several principal business segments including personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance, investor and treasury services, capital markets, and global asset management.