Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Position Lowered by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,854 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,130 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $17,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. GGM Financials LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 318.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 38.1% during the third quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 214 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total value of $113,355,118.14. Following the sale, the director owned 16,681,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,311,186,488.54. The trade was a 2.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.81, for a total value of $29,710,297.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 218,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,513,217.82. This trade represents a 29.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have 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 Stock Down 1.7%

RCL stock opened at $278.32 on Monday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52 week low of $164.01 and a 52 week high of $366.50. The company has a market capitalization of $75.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $304.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $302.08. 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, 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 company had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast 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 stock repurchase program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on RCL. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.29.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

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.