Avanza Fonder AB Invests $11.17 Million in Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 92,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,170,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 6.3% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 84,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,483,000 after purchasing an additional 4,980 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,504,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,118,150,000 after buying an additional 190,341 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 6.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 211,411 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,369,000 after buying an additional 12,693 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 0.9% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 13,622,472 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,706,833,000 after buying an additional 124,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in Royal Bank of Canada in the third quarter worth approximately $706,000. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on RY shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on 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. 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. StockNews.com cut Royal Bank of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 1st. Finally, Barclays upgraded Royal Bank of Canada from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.50.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Performance

NYSE:RY opened at $120.07 on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada has a twelve month low of $93.97 and a twelve month high of $128.05. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.56, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.87.

Royal Bank of Canada Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $1.0522 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 27th. This represents a $4.21 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. This is an increase from Royal Bank of Canada’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Royal Bank of Canada’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.85%.

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.