Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Shares Purchased by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,989 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,563 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $2,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock worth $182,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. EWA LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.6% during the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 794 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.1% in the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.0% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total transaction of $76,475,593.04. Following the sale, the director owned 16,435,910 shares in the company, valued at $5,120,443,401.40. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.21, for a total transaction of $2,562,053.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,695,121.06. This trade represents a 19.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock worth $626,681,935. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $284.97 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $304.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $301.42. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $77.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.87. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12-month low of $164.01 and a 12-month high of $366.50.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management 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 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 38.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $379.00 target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $321.00 to $318.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $348.29.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.