Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Makes New $142,000 Investment in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. West Michigan Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 70.7% during the fourth quarter. West Michigan Advisors LLC now owns 6,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,462,000 after acquiring an additional 2,622 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,779,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter worth $8,055,000. Finally, Wiser Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Wiser Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,359 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises 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 approximately $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total transaction of $15,193,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,514,907.30. The trade was a 28.83 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705. Company insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL opened at $246.04 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $244.74 and a 200-day moving average of $215.91. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $121.58 and a one year high of $277.08. The company has a market cap of $66.22 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.59. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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 report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.