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

Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 65.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 826 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. Johnson Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of RCL. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 511.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at about $231,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,373,856,000 after buying an additional 353,893 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,137,000 after buying an additional 7,740 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

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 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total value of $5,005,260.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,491,190.28. This represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705. 7.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $212.15 on Monday. 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 Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $130.08 and a fifty-two week high of $277.08. The firm has a market cap of $57.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $226.84.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released 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 previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 28.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on RCL shares. BNP Paribas started coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, March 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $262.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $308.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Macquarie lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $272.85.

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.