2,591 Shares in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Purchased by SBI Securities Co. Ltd.

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 85.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $182,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 126,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 41,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,373,000 after purchasing an additional 2,956 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on RCL shares. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Macquarie increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL stock opened at $226.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $61.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.59. The company’s 50 day moving average is $244.53 and its 200 day moving average is $217.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $124.24 and a 52-week high of $277.08.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total transaction of $15,193,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at $37,514,907.30. The trade was a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705. Company insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

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.