Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 152,377 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,340,619 shares of the company’s stock after selling 152,377 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.50% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $309,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,804 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter worth about $231,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 353,893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,137,000 after purchasing an additional 7,740 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,514,907.30. This represents a 28.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total value of $4,447,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,021,265.74. The trade was a 28.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on RCL shares. 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 note on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $308.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Macquarie increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $262.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $272.85.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $212.15 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1-year low of $130.08 and a 1-year 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 company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $211.89 and a 200-day moving average of $226.38.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

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

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.