WASHINGTON TRUST Co Buys 200 Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its stake in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 34.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $94,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 75.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,866,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,229,834,000 after buying an additional 7,702,585 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 13,622,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,706,833,000 after buying an additional 124,348 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,390,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $805,616,000 after buying an additional 541,760 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 4,759,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $594,791,000 after buying an additional 171,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Royal Bank of Canada by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,483,591 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $435,253,000 after buying an additional 122,311 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.31% of the company’s stock.

Royal Bank of Canada Price Performance

Shares of Royal Bank of Canada stock opened at $119.04 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $121.06 and a 200-day moving average of $120.74. Royal Bank of Canada has a 52-week low of $95.84 and a 52-week high of $128.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.87.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 24th. Investors of record on Monday, January 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.0522 per share. This is a positive change from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on RY. StockNews.com cut shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st. TD Securities cut shares of Royal Bank of Canada from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised shares of Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Royal Bank of Canada from $195.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Company 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.