Marshall Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 32,949,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,662,989,000 after purchasing an additional 308,330 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,066,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,728,810,000 after purchasing an additional 461,990 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,576,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,433,052,000 after buying an additional 84,202 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,317,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,997,000 after buying an additional 284,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,021,893,000. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 5.7%

Shares of RCL stock opened at $278.68 on Tuesday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $164.01 and a 1 year high of $366.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $301.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $296.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $75.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.87.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The company had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.44%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RCL. Citigroup raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.52.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.81, for a total transaction of $29,710,297.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 218,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,513,217.82. The trade was a 29.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total value of $113,355,118.14. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,681,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,311,186,488.54. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock worth $626,681,935 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

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.