Plancorp LLC Acquires New Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Plancorp LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on RCL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $204.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE RCL opened at $215.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. The company has a fifty day moving average of $240.00 and a 200 day moving average of $221.60. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $125.06 and a 1 year high of $277.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total transaction of $3,925,805.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,539,648.30. This represents a 41.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.