Choate Investment Advisors Acquires New Shares in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Choate Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 75.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,866,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,229,834,000 after purchasing an additional 7,702,585 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised 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 valued at $1,338,156,000 after purchasing an additional 921,276 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 9.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,390,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $805,616,000 after purchasing an additional 541,760 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 3,583,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $431,892,000 after purchasing an additional 15,300 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,548,041 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $427,589,000 after purchasing an additional 64,450 shares during the period. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. CIBC reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Royal Bank of Canada in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised Royal Bank of Canada from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barclays raised Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Royal Bank of Canada from $195.00 to $193.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Up 1.1 %

Royal Bank of Canada stock opened at $112.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Royal Bank of Canada has a twelve month low of $95.84 and a twelve month high of $128.05.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a $1.0251 dividend. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.96%.

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.