Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 14,874 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 534,448 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,874 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.20% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $142,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $321,332,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 293,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,261,000 after acquiring an additional 14,018 shares in the last quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,586,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $650,000. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $18,080,000. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Maritza Montiel sold 400 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Friday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.21, for a total transaction of $122,884.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,055,786.42. The trade was a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on RCL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $299.00 to $330.00 in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Argus increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $330.00 to $375.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Monday, September 28th. Twenty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $355.62.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $321.06 on Tuesday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $222.22 and a fifty-two week high of $356.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $286.91. The company has a market capitalization of $85.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.22.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $6.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.38 by $0.19. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.78% and a return on equity of 43.40%. The firm had revenue of $5.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 17.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 17th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.52%.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., doing business as Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL), is a global cruise company that operates vacation cruises and related travel experiences. Its fleet visits destinations across the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, Asia, Australia, and other regions, with itineraries that typically include onboard entertainment, dining, accommodations, recreational activities, and shore excursions.

The company’s principal brands include Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises.