Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Shares Purchased by NWK Group Inc.

NWK Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 32,703 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 869 shares during the quarter. Royal Caribbean Cruises comprises about 2.9% of NWK Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. NWK Group Inc.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $7,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Ostrum Asset Management lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Ostrum Asset Management now owns 11,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,678,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management boosted 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 period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total value 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 approximately $37,514,907.30. This trade represents a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total value of $3,925,805.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,155 shares in the company, valued at $5,539,648.30. The trade was a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705. 7.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RCL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Macquarie increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating and a $230.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 price objective (down from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.95.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:RCL opened at $192.52 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $127.20 and a 1 year high of $277.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $217.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.81 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued 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 return on equity of 48.97% and a net margin of 17.46%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.06%.

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.