Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC Has $606,000 Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,626 shares of the company’s stock after selling 770 shares during the period. Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in RCL. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.8% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.5% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,716,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 35,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,309,000 after buying an additional 2,687 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 372.6% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 86,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,299,000 after buying an additional 68,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 180,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,042,000 after buying an additional 4,008 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $212.33 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $241.31 and a 200-day moving average of $220.25. The stock has a market cap of $57.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $125.06 and a 52-week high of $277.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. 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. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on RCL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Macquarie raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.53.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total value of $15,193,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,514,907.30. The trade was a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total value of $3,925,805.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. The trade was a 41.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705 over the last quarter. 7.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.