Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Sells 21,584 Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 64.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,584 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $1,517,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nwam LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $354,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 14.8% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 311,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,877,000 after buying an additional 40,178 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 3.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,483,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $435,253,000 after acquiring an additional 122,311 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the third quarter valued at $255,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board bought a new stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada in the 3rd quarter worth about $346,000. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Securities downgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Royal Bank of Canada from $151.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays raised Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Bank of Canada currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

Royal Bank of Canada stock opened at $124.30 on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada has a fifty-two week low of $85.02 and a fifty-two week high of $126.96. The company has a market capitalization of $175.72 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $123.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The financial services provider reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $10.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.40 billion. Royal Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 15.17% and a net margin of 12.28%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Royal Bank of Canada will post 8.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 24th were issued a dividend of $1.028 per share. This represents a $4.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 24th. Royal Bank of Canada’s payout ratio is 50.79%.

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.