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

Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,567 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 895 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $1,284,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in RCL. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.9% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 353 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,154 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.8% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.7% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $212.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1-year low of $125.06 and a 1-year high of $277.08. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $241.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.88.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. On average, research 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 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at $47,491,190.28. This represents a 9.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total value of $3,925,805.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. This trade represents a 41.48 % 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 worth $28,571,705. 7.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on RCL. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $204.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Loop Capital upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.