44 Wealth Management LLC Sells 79 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

44 Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,614 shares of the company’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 511.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,804 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 12,530 shares during the period. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth about $231,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 291,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,137,000 after acquiring an additional 7,740 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total value of $15,193,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,514,907.30. This represents a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total value of $3,925,805.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. The trade was a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RCL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Macquarie boosted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $204.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $253.00 target price (down from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of RCL stock opened at $234.16 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $119.48 and a 1 year high of $277.08. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.86. The company has a market cap of $63.02 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.59.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. Research analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.58%.

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.