3,635 Shares in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Purchased by J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,014,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 32,949,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,662,989,000 after purchasing an additional 308,330 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,066,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,728,810,000 after purchasing an additional 461,990 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.8% during the third 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 period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.4% during the second 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 period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,474,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $800,785,000 after buying an additional 65,714 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $380.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $318.00 to $327.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $353.30.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:RCL opened at $282.29 on Thursday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52 week low of $164.01 and a 52 week high of $366.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $300.22 and a 200 day moving average of $292.85. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $76.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.93.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $4.26 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders 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 2.1%. 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 payout ratio is 38.44%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

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

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.