Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Shares Purchased by Hartford Investment Management Co.

Hartford Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,337 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $3,538,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 76.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 28,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,142,000 after purchasing an additional 12,530 shares during the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the third quarter worth about $800,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 541.0% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 8,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 725,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,699,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of RCL stock opened at $256.11 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $243.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $207.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.86 billion, a PE ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1-year low of $113.10 and a 1-year high of $277.08.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors 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 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 139,353 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.89, for a total value of $33,150,685.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,167,507 shares in the company, valued at $4,321,868,240.23. This trade represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total transaction of $763,922.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,243,287.76. The trade was a 12.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 372,609 shares of company stock worth $87,647,208. Company insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RCL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Argus boosted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.12.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.