Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 508,158 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,934 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $164,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.1% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 433,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,595,000 after acquiring an additional 43,184 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the third quarter worth approximately $4,806,000. Marion Wealth Management acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at $291,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,066,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,728,810,000 after purchasing an additional 461,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 253.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 556,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,241,000 after purchasing an additional 398,849 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

NYSE:RCL opened at $319.12 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $304.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $303.30. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1-year low of $164.01 and a 1-year high of $366.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.91.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. The business had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.62%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RCL. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $353.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Mizuho set a $379.00 price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. Susquehanna set a $350.00 target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 345,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.73, for a total transaction of $108,961,896.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,207,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,432,929,342.41. This trade represents a 1.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.81, for a total transaction of $29,710,297.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 218,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,513,217.82. This represents a 29.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,195,712 shares of company stock valued at $383,111,652. 6.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Profile

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), operating as part of the Royal Caribbean Group, is a global cruise company that develops, markets and operates passenger cruise ships. The company operates multiple consumer-facing cruise brands that offer short- and long-duration itineraries and a range of onboard experiences. Its core activities include itineraries and voyage operations, guest services and hospitality, onboard food and beverage, entertainment and recreation programming, and the commercial activities needed to sell and support cruises through both direct and travel‑agent channels.

Royal Caribbean’s ships serve a broad set of geographies worldwide, regularly deploying vessels in the Caribbean, North America (including Alaska), Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.