Naftali Holtz Sells 17,000 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Stock

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total transaction of $4,447,540.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,021,265.74. The trade was a 28.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 4.0 %

RCL stock opened at $234.16 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $244.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.42. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $119.48 and a fifty-two week high of $277.08. 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 firm has a market cap of $63.02 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.59.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its 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 last year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RCL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $245.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Argus raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.12.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,712,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,854,905,000 after buying an additional 278,860 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,476,003,000 after buying an additional 2,068,114 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,373,856,000 after buying an additional 353,893 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter worth $707,833,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,653,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $612,080,000 after buying an additional 513,702 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company 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.