Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CFO Sells $4,447,540.00 in Stock

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total transaction of $4,447,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,021,265.74. This trade represents a 28.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

RCL traded down $19.81 on Thursday, hitting $244.20. 8,814,444 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,425,559. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $113.56 and a twelve month high of $277.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $244.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.77. The firm has a market cap of $65.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 2.59.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 20.58%.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 38,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,761,000 after buying an additional 4,311 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $374,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 262.0% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.8% in the third quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 1,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on RCL shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.