Heartland Bank & Trust Co Takes $810,000 Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $810,000.

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

Key Stories Impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises

Here are the key news stories impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company raised its quarterly dividend to $1.50 (annualized $6.00); ex?dividend/record/pay dates disclosed — a cash return boost that supports shareholder sentiment. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Board-authorized $2.0 billion share buyback program—management signaling conviction in long?term value, which can support the stock and EPS. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Board upgrade — appointment of Christopher J. Wiernicki adds maritime/regulatory expertise that could improve governance and operational oversight. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains constructive: several firms have raised targets or reiterated buys (consensus price target near $348), which can attract investor interest but is not an immediate catalyst. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive media/momentum stories (Zacks, FXEmpire) highlight RCL as a long?term value/flow beneficiary — may support continued inflows but not a near?term driver by itself. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large, repeated insider selling by director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen across Feb. 13–19 (multiple transactions totaling hundreds of thousands of shares, tens of millions of dollars) — a clear short?term negative signal that has pressured the stock. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional insider disposals (Laura H. Bethge, Maritza Gomez Montiel) in the same window amplify the selling signal and raise near?term concern about insider conviction. Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Rising crude / fuel costs: coverage flags that oil near multi?month highs can hit margins quickly for cruise operators (especially with notable leverage), creating downside risk to earnings and multiples. Read More.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 51,131 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.39, for a total value of $16,739,778.09. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 28,116 shares in the company, valued at $9,204,897.24. This trade represents a 64.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.18, for a total transaction of $453,144.30. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,203,935.82. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 722,164 shares of company stock worth $233,668,845. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on RCL. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective 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. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $368.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $348.29.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 1.6%

RCL stock opened at $315.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $85.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.91. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $164.01 and a 1 year high of $366.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $303.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.62%.

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.