Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CFO Sells $4,447,540.00 in Stock

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total transaction of $4,447,540.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,021,265.74. This represents a 28.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $234.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.02 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $244.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.42. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $119.48 and a one year high of $277.08.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 28.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RCL. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.8% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 38,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,761,000 after acquiring an additional 4,311 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the third quarter valued at about $374,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 262.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.8% during the third quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 1,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 5.3% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on RCL. StockNews.com raised shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Loop Capital began coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.12.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.