Retirement Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,000 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Retirement Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth about $707,833,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,476,003,000 after purchasing an additional 2,068,114 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 138.9% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 864,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $199,327,000 after purchasing an additional 502,349 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at $69,556,000. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2,042.8% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 122,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,349,000 after buying an additional 117,152 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total transaction of $4,447,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,021,265.74. The trade was a 28.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at $37,514,907.30. This trade represents a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have 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 Trading Down 4.6 %

NYSE RCL opened at $207.35 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The firm has a market cap of $55.80 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52 week low of $125.06 and a 52 week high of $277.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $238.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.72.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on RCL shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $204.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.33.

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.