Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Stock Holdings Increased by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,644 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $1,302,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter valued at about $282,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 804.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 30,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,968,000 after acquiring an additional 26,865 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 24,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,720,000 after buying an additional 1,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 1,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.12.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total value of $763,922.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 22,348 shares in the company, valued at $5,243,287.76. The trade was a 12.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 139,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.89, for a total transaction of $33,150,685.17. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,167,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,321,868,240.23. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 372,609 shares of company stock valued at $87,647,208 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $256.11 on Thursday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $113.10 and a fifty-two week high of $277.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $243.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.31. 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 stock has a market cap of $68.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (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 period last year, the business posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.58%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.