Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Director Sells $113,355,118.14 in Stock

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total value of $113,355,118.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,681,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,311,186,488.54. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, February 27th, Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total value of $76,475,593.04.
• On Wednesday, February 25th, Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 170,105 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.92, for a total value of $53,739,571.60.
• On Tuesday, February 24th, Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 345,111 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.73, for a total value of $108,961,896.03.
• On Monday, February 23rd, Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 19,140 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.30, for a total value of $6,073,122.00.
• On Friday, February 20th, Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 109,297 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.81, for a total value of $34,407,788.57.
• On Thursday, February 19th, Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 101,902 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $312.09, for a total transaction of $31,802,595.18.
• On Wednesday, February 18th, Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 104,540 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $321.64, for a total transaction of $33,624,245.60.
• On Tuesday, February 17th, Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 180,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.09, for a total transaction of $58,516,200.00.
• On Friday, February 13th, Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 100,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.58, for a total transaction of $32,658,000.00.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

NYSE RCL opened at $310.49 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $304.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $303.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $164.01 and a 1 year high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The business had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. The company’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. 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. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 25.62%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Stories Impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises

Here are the key news stories impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company expansion push — coverage highlights Royal Caribbean’s aggressive growth and fleet/itinerary expansion plans that back continued demand recovery and revenue upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Luxury brand development — Silversea unveiled public spaces for The Cormorant at 55 South, a new hotel supporting Antarctic fly‑cruise packages, strengthening the company’s premium/expedition revenue mix. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Completed $2.5B senior notes offering — RCL issued $1.25B of 4.75% notes due 2033 and $1.25B of 5.25% notes due 2038. The deal boosts liquidity and funds financing needs but increases long‑term debt and interest expense. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider selling — Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 771,607 shares across Feb 25–27 for roughly $243.6M in proceeds (three Form 4 filings). While the sales are a small percentage of his total holdings, the magnitude and timing can pressure sentiment and share price. Read More.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,165,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,088,156,000 after purchasing an additional 3,215,382 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,253,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,438,292,000 after buying an additional 187,283 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,176,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,627,669,000 after buying an additional 920,042 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,576,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,433,052,000 after buying an additional 84,202 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,054,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,961,758,000 after acquiring an additional 155,491 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on RCL. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $368.00 to $371.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $348.29.

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.