Blair William & Co. IL Decreases Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Blair William & Co. IL cut its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,230 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,009 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $17,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,476,003,000 after buying an additional 2,068,114 shares during the period. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.8% in the third quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,570,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,502,000 after acquiring an additional 58,159 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,519,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,418,000 after purchasing an additional 48,480 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 864,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,327,000 after purchasing an additional 502,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 591,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,918,000 after purchasing an additional 13,520 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $37,514,907.30. This represents a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total transaction of $3,925,805.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 21,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. This represents a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705. Company insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on RCL shares. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.33.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $207.35 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12-month low of $125.06 and a 12-month high of $277.08. The company has a market cap of $55.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $238.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.27.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (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 previous year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

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.