Insider Selling: Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) CAO Sells 4,442 Shares of Stock

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CAO Henry Pujol sold 4,442 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.99, for a total transaction of $1,456,931.58. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,067 shares in the company, valued at $3,301,875.33. The trade was a 30.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 4.1%

NYSE:RCL traded down $13.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $319.26. The company had a trading volume of 2,393,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,499,937. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $303.37. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $164.01 and a 1 year high of $366.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.91.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. The company had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.62%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 20,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,297,000 after acquiring an additional 6,063 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,456 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter worth $201,000. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 31.7% in the 2nd quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises

Here are the key news stories impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 2025 results showed solid demand and margin recovery — revenue and EPS rose ~13% and ~36% year?over?year, operating profit jumped ~49%, and operating cash generation improved. These fundamentals support analyst bullishness and longer?term earnings upgrades. RCL Q4 2025 Earnings (QuiverQuant)
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains constructive: broker consensus is around a “Moderate Buy” and many firms maintain buy/overweight ratings with price targets well above current levels — a tailwind for the stock if sentiment persists. Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy (AmericanBankingNews)
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research nudged near?term EPS estimates slightly higher for Q1 and Q2, signaling some upward revision to the company’s short?term earnings outlook. (These are modest changes but supportive.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks also published longer?range projections (FY2027/FY2028) that are mixed — a small cut to FY2027 was offset by higher FY2028 expectations — leaving medium?term consensus roughly intact.
• Negative Sentiment: Royal Caribbean priced $2.5 billion of senior unsecured notes ($1.25B due 2033 at 4.75% and $1.25B due 2038 at 5.25%). The deal increases debt and fixed interest obligations, which can pressure the stock, especially given already elevated capex and leverage metrics. Pricing of Senior Unsecured Notes (PR Newswire) Royal Caribbean Issues $2.5 Billion in Senior Notes (TipRanks)
• Negative Sentiment: High near?term capital spending: management’s reported capex jumped materially in Q4, and Quiver data shows insider sales in recent months — both factors can worry investors about future free cash flow and signal reduced insider conviction. Capex & Insider Activity (QuiverQuant)

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $353.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Mizuho set a $379.00 price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.29.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), operating as part of the Royal Caribbean Group, is a global cruise company that develops, markets and operates passenger cruise ships. The company operates multiple consumer-facing cruise brands that offer short- and long-duration itineraries and a range of onboard experiences. Its core activities include itineraries and voyage operations, guest services and hospitality, onboard food and beverage, entertainment and recreation programming, and the commercial activities needed to sell and support cruises through both direct and travel?agent channels.

Royal Caribbean’s ships serve a broad set of geographies worldwide, regularly deploying vessels in the Caribbean, North America (including Alaska), Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.