New Century Financial Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

New Century Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,942 shares of the company’s stock after selling 103 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. D1 Capital Partners L.P. raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.8% during the third quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,570,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,502,000 after acquiring an additional 58,159 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 725,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,699,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 591,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,918,000 after purchasing an additional 13,520 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 461,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,690,000 after buying an additional 17,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 10,599.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 409,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,696,000 after buying an additional 406,048 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 2.3 %

RCL opened at $232.59 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $113.10 and a 1 year high of $258.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $237.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $62.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 2.59.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $5.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.05 by $0.15. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 16.21% and a return on equity of 52.92%. The company had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.85 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 11.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RCL has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $257.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.81.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total value of $763,922.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,243,287.76. This represents a 12.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 6,723 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.51, for a total transaction of $1,401,812.73. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 9,964 shares in the company, valued at $2,077,593.64. This trade represents a 40.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 404,332 shares of company stock valued at $94,299,521 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

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.