Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Royal Caribbean Cruises Call Options (NYSE:RCL)

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 24,022 call options on the company. This is an increase of 164% compared to the typical daily volume of 9,093 call options.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

NYSE RCL opened at $268.77 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $238.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $200.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 2.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 12-month low of $113.10 and a 12-month high of $271.31.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced 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 return on equity of 52.92% and a net margin of 16.21%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 11.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 22.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 230,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.62, for a total value of $53,732,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,556,860 shares in the company, valued at $4,335,253,633.20. This trade represents a 1.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total transaction of $763,922.72. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,243,287.76. This represents a 12.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 372,609 shares of company stock valued at $87,647,208 in the last ninety days. 7.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RCL. Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 533 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 457 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.06.

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.