Colonial Trust Advisors Trims Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Colonial Trust Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,055 shares of the company’s stock after selling 95 shares during the quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of RCL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,476,003,000 after acquiring an additional 2,068,114 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,373,856,000 after acquiring an additional 353,893 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $707,833,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,519,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,418,000 after acquiring an additional 48,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 938,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,559,000 after acquiring an additional 98,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on RCL. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at $37,514,907.30. This trade represents a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total value of $5,005,260.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 16.3 %

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $209.60 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $227.51 and a 200 day moving average of $225.11. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $125.06 and a fifty-two week high of $277.08.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.