Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Shares Sold by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,350 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $1,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RCL. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 76.1% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 28,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,142,000 after purchasing an additional 12,530 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter worth $800,000. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 541.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 8,353 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.5% in the third 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 price target (down previously from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total transaction of $763,922.72. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,243,287.76. The trade was a 12.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 230,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.62, for a total value of $53,732,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,556,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,335,253,633.20. This trade represents a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 392,109 shares of company stock worth $92,652,468. 7.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $262.99 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $243.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $208.02. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52 week low of $113.10 and a 52 week high of $277.08. The stock has a market cap of $70.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 20.58%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.