Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 788 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,712,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,854,905,000 after purchasing an additional 278,860 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,068,114 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,373,856,000 after buying an additional 353,893 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter valued at about $707,833,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 24.0% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,653,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $612,080,000 after acquiring an additional 513,702 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.10, for a total value of $4,960,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 165,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,868,055.10. The trade was a 10.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group set a $311.00 price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $262.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research upgraded Royal Caribbean Cruises to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $265.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.95.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 0.8%

RCL stock opened at $240.35 on Monday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $130.08 and a fifty-two week high of $277.08. 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 stock has a market cap of $65.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $215.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.15.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.77 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.92%.

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.