Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CEO Jason T. Liberty Sells 58,000 Shares

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total transaction of $15,193,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,514,907.30. This trade represents a 28.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $234.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $63.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $244.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.42. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12-month low of $119.48 and a 12-month high of $277.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at $707,833,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,476,003,000 after acquiring an additional 2,068,114 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3,544.4% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 963,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,166,000 after acquiring an additional 936,609 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,653,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,080,000 after acquiring an additional 513,702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 138.9% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 864,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,327,000 after acquiring an additional 502,349 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $253.00 target price (down previously from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $284.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

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.