Bessemer Group Inc. Buys 126 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,594 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $4,059,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of RCL. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 511.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 1,804 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 76.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 28,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,142,000 after acquiring an additional 12,530 shares during the last quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth $231,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,373,856,000 after purchasing an additional 353,893 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $262.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.95.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $191.98 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.30. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $125.06 and a one year 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.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at $37,514,907.30. The trade was a 28.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705 in the last quarter. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.