Rathbones Group PLC Boosts Stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 15,633.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 353,996 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 351,746 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.13% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $81,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 618.8% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 115 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total transaction of $15,193,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,514,907.30. The trade was a 28.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total transaction of $5,005,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 185,021 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. The trade was a 9.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705. 7.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on RCL shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "hold" rating and a $230.00 target price for the company. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $276.95.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL stock traded down $0.53 on Friday, reaching $191.98. The stock had a trading volume of 2,889,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,359,141. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $125.06 and a 1 year high of $277.08. The stock has a market cap of $51.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.30.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company posted $1.25 earnings per share. 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 share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

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.