Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Shares Sold by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lessened its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 75.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,792 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 135.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,306,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $366,925,000 after purchasing an additional 750,723 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 163.7% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,101,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,515,000 after purchasing an additional 683,896 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 560.9% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 676,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,949,000 after purchasing an additional 574,256 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 260.9% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 661,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,895,000 after buying an additional 477,883 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 461,990 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report 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 research report on Sunday, February 1st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $353.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $326.21, for a total transaction of $2,562,053.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 32,786 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,695,121.06. This represents a 19.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total value of $76,475,593.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,435,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,120,443,401.40. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of RCL opened at $273.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $292.12. The stock has a market cap of $74.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.93. 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.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.44%.

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