Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Takes $1.69 Million Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,686,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $707,833,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company's stock worth $6,476,003,000 after purchasing an additional 2,068,114 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 864,049 shares of the company's stock valued at $199,327,000 after acquiring an additional 502,349 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 15,633.2% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 353,996 shares of the company's stock worth $81,663,000 after purchasing an additional 351,746 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:RCL traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $192.52. 1,167,960 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,336,920. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $218.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $225.35. The stock has a market cap of $51.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $127.10 and a fifty-two week high of $277.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

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, 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 period last year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company 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 a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is 28.06%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total transaction of $3,925,805.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 21,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. The trade was a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total transaction of $4,447,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,021,265.74. The trade was a 28.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RCL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $276.95.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.