Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Boosts Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,220 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 877 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $4,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RCL. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,896,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after buying an additional 538 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 68.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,403,000 after buying an additional 7,817 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 27,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,770 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at $47,491,190.28. This trade represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total transaction of $15,193,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at $37,514,907.30. This represents a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705 in the last ninety days. 7.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of RCL opened at $244.10 on Thursday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $121.18 and a twelve month high of $277.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $244.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.59. 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 (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on RCL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.12.

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.