Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 415,230 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 6.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,667,927 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 415,230 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.45% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $2,079,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Florida Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 87.6% in the first quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Roberts Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 1st quarter valued at $572,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,674,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,890,943,000 after purchasing an additional 602,447 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7,890.2% during the first quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 36,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,535,000 after purchasing an additional 36,216 shares during the period. Finally, Shellback Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 53.8% in the first quarter. Shellback Capital LP now owns 200,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,088,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on RCL. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $399.00 to $336.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $405.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $326.86.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

RCL stock opened at $263.69 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $312.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.86. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $164.01 and a 12 month high of $366.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $71.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 2.04.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $5.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.07. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 44.68%. The business had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.580-15.630 EPS. Q4 2025 guidance at 2.740-2.790 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 25th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 25th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is presently 26.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, Director Vagn O. Sorensen sold 10,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total value of $3,399,412.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,414,966.28. This trade represents a 38.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.76, for a total value of $309,936.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,010,571.84. This represents a 7.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 6.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.