Banque Pictet & Cie SA Purchases New Shares in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Banque Pictet & Cie SA acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,562,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,316,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 1,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. LeConte Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. LeConte Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 6,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,829,000 after acquiring an additional 2,846 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 41,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,527,000 after acquiring an additional 6,865 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 2.9%

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $273.90 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $164.01 and a 12 month high of $366.50. The company has a market capitalization of $74.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.93. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $299.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $292.72. 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 (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The company’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.44%.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.18, for a total value of $453,144.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,849 shares in the company, valued at $4,203,935.82. The trade was a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.21, for a total value of $2,562,053.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 32,786 shares in the company, valued at $10,695,121.06. This trade represents a 19.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $353.30.

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.