Legal & General Group Plc Sells 2,234,230 Shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY)

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its stake in shares of Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE:RY) (TSE:RY) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,218,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,234,230 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Royal Bank of Canada were worth $990,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 38.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Royal Bank of Canada by 4.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 148,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,561,000 after purchasing an additional 6,900 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in Royal Bank of Canada by 10.0% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 8,776 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in shares of Royal Bank of Canada by 127.2% in the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 11,566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,443,000 after buying an additional 6,475 shares during the period. 45.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Royal Bank of Canada Stock Down 3.5 %

Royal Bank of Canada stock opened at $111.13 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $156.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.82. 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 12 month low of $95.84 and a 12 month high of $128.05. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.68.

Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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