Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 191,881 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,861 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.07% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $44,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company's stock worth $1,530,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 76.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 28,991 shares of the company's stock worth $5,142,000 after purchasing an additional 12,530 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter valued at $800,000. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 541.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,897 shares of the company's stock worth $2,283,000 after acquiring an additional 8,353 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 725,638 shares of the company's stock worth $128,699,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

RCL traded up $2.17 on Wednesday, hitting $263.97. 1,649,008 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,225,905. The stock has a market cap of $70.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $244.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.17. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $113.10 and a fifty-two week 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. 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 1.14%. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.58%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 139,353 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.89, for a total transaction of $33,150,685.17. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,167,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,868,240.23. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total value of $5,005,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at $47,491,190.28. This trade represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 7.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $253.00 price target (down from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $284.12.

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.