Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 196.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,042 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 4,006 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $1,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RCL. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.0% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 23,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,086,000 after buying an additional 2,286 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 28.5% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7.3% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 6,756 shares of the company's stock worth $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.6% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 64,321 shares of the company's stock worth $11,408,000 after purchasing an additional 2,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.6% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 202,441 shares of the company's stock worth $35,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on RCL. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $305.00 to $295.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com raised Royal Caribbean Cruises from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

RCL traded up $1.04 on Friday, hitting $215.76. 3,608,502 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,272,103. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $240.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.17. The firm has a market cap of $58.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $125.06 and a one year high of $277.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 48.97% and a net margin of 17.46%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total value of $15,193,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,514,907.30. The trade was a 28.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total value of $4,447,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,021,265.74. This trade represents a 28.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705 in the last quarter. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. operates as a cruise company worldwide. The company operates cruises under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises brands, which comprise a range of itineraries. As of February 21, 2024, it operated 65 ships. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.