Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Shares Sold by Generate Investment Management Ltd

Generate Investment Management Ltd lessened its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 48.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 17,244 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,970 shares during the quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $4,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter worth approximately $1,021,893,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 135.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,306,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,925,000 after purchasing an additional 750,723 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 163.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,101,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,515,000 after purchasing an additional 683,896 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 560.9% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 676,645 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,949,000 after purchasing an additional 574,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter worth $172,488,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.21, for a total value of $2,562,053.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 32,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,695,121.06. This represents a 19.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,385 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.18, for a total value of $453,144.30. Following the sale, the director directly owned 12,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,203,935.82. This trade represents a 9.73% decrease in their position. 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 90 days. Insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.30.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 4.4%

NYSE RCL opened at $262.01 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $300.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market cap of $70.88 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.87. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52 week low of $164.01 and a 52 week high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.44%.

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.