Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 11,215.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,263 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,243 shares during the quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 135.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,306,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,925,000 after purchasing an additional 750,723 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 163.7% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,101,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,515,000 after purchasing an additional 683,896 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 560.9% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 676,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,949,000 after purchasing an additional 574,256 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 260.9% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 661,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,895,000 after purchasing an additional 477,883 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,066,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,728,810,000 after purchasing an additional 461,990 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RCL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $353.30.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total transaction of $76,475,593.04. Following the sale, the director owned 16,435,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,120,443,401.40. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.21, for a total transaction of $2,562,053.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,786 shares in the company, valued at $10,695,121.06. This represents a 19.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of RCL stock opened at $267.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $72.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.93. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1-year low of $176.00 and a 1-year high of $366.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $298.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $291.12.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.44%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.