Prudential PLC Sells 9,515 Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Prudential PLC reduced its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 35.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,515 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $2,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in RY. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,183,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,136,056,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104,975 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada in the fourth quarter worth about $2,425,519,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 11,112,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,338,156,000 after buying an additional 921,276 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,382,278 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,027,061,000 after buying an additional 1,991,364 shares during the period. Finally, GQG Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 5,796,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $698,579,000 after buying an additional 51,277 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Royal Bank of Canada Trading Down 3.5 %

RY stock opened at $111.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Royal Bank of Canada has a 1-year low of $95.84 and a 1-year high of $128.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.68. The company has a market capitalization of $156.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.82.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $1.0251 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is 45.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on RY. CIBC raised shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Bank of Canada has an average rating of “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.