Sowell Financial Services LLC Sells 4,569 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Sowell Financial Services LLC cut its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,971 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,569 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $3,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in RCL. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. 1 North Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on RCL. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $420.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $342.00 to $324.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.82.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.76, for a total value of $309,936.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,010,571.84. This trade represents a 7.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

NYSE:RCL opened at $285.71 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $275.32 and its 200 day moving average is $306.31. The firm has a market cap of $77.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.16. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $164.01 and a 52-week high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $5.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.07. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 44.68% and a net margin of 23.33%.The business had revenue of $5.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.580-15.630 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.740-2.790 EPS. Research analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.90%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.