Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Shares Acquired by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 163.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,101,544 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 683,896 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.40% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $356,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.1% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 433,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,595,000 after purchasing an additional 43,184 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter valued at about $4,806,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 49.3% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 117,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,931,000 after buying an additional 38,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 39,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,659,000 after buying an additional 6,253 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.18, for a total transaction of $453,144.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,203,935.82. The trade was a 9.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total transaction of $76,475,593.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,435,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,120,443,401.40. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 1,967,319 shares of company stock worth $626,681,935 in the last ninety days. 6.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $280.94 on Tuesday. 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 cap of $76.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $304.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $299.18.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. 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. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is 38.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on RCL. Mizuho set a $379.00 price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.52.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.