Richard D. Fain Sells 19,500 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Stock

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 185,021 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. This represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

RCL traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $263.09. 625,654 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,202,367. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.74 billion, a PE ratio of 24.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59. The business's 50-day moving average price is $243.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $210.31. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1-year low of $113.10 and a 1-year high of $277.08.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is 20.58%.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Royal Caribbean Cruises

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,712,610 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,854,905,000 after purchasing an additional 278,860 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,476,003,000 after purchasing an additional 2,068,114 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,373,856,000 after purchasing an additional 353,893 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $707,833,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,653,258 shares of the company's stock valued at $612,080,000 after purchasing an additional 513,702 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $245.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.12.

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.