Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Stock Position Decreased by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC trimmed its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 50.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,594 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,760 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $1,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of RCL. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,570,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,502,000 after purchasing an additional 58,159 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 725,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,699,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% in the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 591,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,918,000 after acquiring an additional 13,520 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 569,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,468,000 after acquiring an additional 18,868 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 353,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,639,000 after acquiring an additional 3,235 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Macquarie increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of RCL opened at $237.49 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.89. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $119.48 and a one year high of $277.08. The company has a market capitalization of $63.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.06%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total transaction of $5,005,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,155 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705. Company insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

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.