Virtu Financial LLC Raises Stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 26.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,054 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,064 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $1,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.0% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 23,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,086,000 after acquiring an additional 2,286 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $375,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 31,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,642,000 after purchasing an additional 10,412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Okabena Investment Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $602,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RCL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Argus raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $215.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $240.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.04. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $125.06 and a 1 year high of $277.08. The firm has a market cap of $58.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 48.97% and a net margin of 17.46%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities 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 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,127 shares in the company, valued at $11,021,265.74. This represents a 28.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total transaction of $5,005,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,491,190.28. This represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705 in the last three months. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Profile

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.