Naftali Holtz Sells 51,131 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Stock

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CFO Naftali Holtz sold 51,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.39, for a total transaction of $16,739,778.09. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 28,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,204,897.24. The trade was a 64.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 4.1%

RCL opened at $319.26 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $296.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $303.15.

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

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 38.44%.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 779 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 1,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Prosperity Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,172,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 142 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Royal Caribbean Cruises News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 2025 results showed solid demand and margin recovery — revenue and EPS rose ~13% and ~36% year‑over‑year, operating profit jumped ~49%, and operating cash generation improved. These fundamentals support analyst bullishness and longer‑term earnings upgrades. RCL Q4 2025 Earnings (QuiverQuant)
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains constructive: broker consensus is around a “Moderate Buy” and many firms maintain buy/overweight ratings with price targets well above current levels — a tailwind for the stock if sentiment persists. Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy (AmericanBankingNews)
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research nudged near‑term EPS estimates slightly higher for Q1 and Q2, signaling some upward revision to the company’s short‑term earnings outlook. (These are modest changes but supportive.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks also published longer‑range projections (FY2027/FY2028) that are mixed — a small cut to FY2027 was offset by higher FY2028 expectations — leaving medium‑term consensus roughly intact.
• Negative Sentiment: Royal Caribbean priced $2.5 billion of senior unsecured notes ($1.25B due 2033 at 4.75% and $1.25B due 2038 at 5.25%). The deal increases debt and fixed interest obligations, which can pressure the stock, especially given already elevated capex and leverage metrics. Pricing of Senior Unsecured Notes (PR Newswire) Royal Caribbean Issues $2.5 Billion in Senior Notes (TipRanks)
• Negative Sentiment: High near‑term capital spending: management’s reported capex jumped materially in Q4, and Quiver data shows insider sales in recent months — both factors can worry investors about future free cash flow and signal reduced insider conviction. Capex & Insider Activity (QuiverQuant)

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RCL has been the topic of several research reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho set a $379.00 price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.