Naftali Holtz Sells 51,131 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Stock

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CFO Naftali Holtz sold 51,131 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.39, for a total value of $16,739,778.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 28,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,204,897.24. This represents a 64.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL traded down $13.54 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $319.26. 2,393,028 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,499,937. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $164.01 and a twelve month high of $366.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $296.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $303.37. The company has a market cap of $86.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.91.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The business had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 25.62%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 184.4% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 91 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. SRH Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RCL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $380.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.29.

Key Headlines Impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises

Here are the key news stories impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 2025 results showed solid demand and margin recovery — revenue and EPS rose ~13% and ~36% year?over?year, operating profit jumped ~49%, and operating cash generation improved. These fundamentals support analyst bullishness and longer?term earnings upgrades. RCL Q4 2025 Earnings (QuiverQuant)
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains constructive: broker consensus is around a “Moderate Buy” and many firms maintain buy/overweight ratings with price targets well above current levels — a tailwind for the stock if sentiment persists. Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy (AmericanBankingNews)
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research nudged near?term EPS estimates slightly higher for Q1 and Q2, signaling some upward revision to the company’s short?term earnings outlook. (These are modest changes but supportive.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks also published longer?range projections (FY2027/FY2028) that are mixed — a small cut to FY2027 was offset by higher FY2028 expectations — leaving medium?term consensus roughly intact.
• Negative Sentiment: Royal Caribbean priced $2.5 billion of senior unsecured notes ($1.25B due 2033 at 4.75% and $1.25B due 2038 at 5.25%). The deal increases debt and fixed interest obligations, which can pressure the stock, especially given already elevated capex and leverage metrics. Pricing of Senior Unsecured Notes (PR Newswire) Royal Caribbean Issues $2.5 Billion in Senior Notes (TipRanks)
• Negative Sentiment: High near?term capital spending: management’s reported capex jumped materially in Q4, and Quiver data shows insider sales in recent months — both factors can worry investors about future free cash flow and signal reduced insider conviction. Capex & Insider Activity (QuiverQuant)

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), operating as part of the Royal Caribbean Group, is a global cruise company that develops, markets and operates passenger cruise ships. The company operates multiple consumer-facing cruise brands that offer short- and long-duration itineraries and a range of onboard experiences. Its core activities include itineraries and voyage operations, guest services and hospitality, onboard food and beverage, entertainment and recreation programming, and the commercial activities needed to sell and support cruises through both direct and travel?agent channels.

Royal Caribbean’s ships serve a broad set of geographies worldwide, regularly deploying vessels in the Caribbean, North America (including Alaska), Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.