Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,066,167 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 461,990 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $9,728,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 142 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 85.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RCL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $321.00 to $318.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Mizuho set a $379.00 price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, December 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael W. Bayley sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.82, for a total transaction of $26,145,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 58,108 shares in the company, valued at $18,990,856.56. This trade represents a 57.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 51,131 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.39, for a total value of $16,739,778.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 28,116 shares in the company, valued at $9,204,897.24. This represents a 64.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 226,483 shares of company stock valued at $74,052,607. 6.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of RCL stock opened at $319.26 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.91. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $298.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $302.97. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $164.01 and a twelve month high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 25.62%.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

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.