Insider Selling: Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) CFO Sells 51,131 Shares of Stock

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CFO Naftali Holtz sold 51,131 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.39, for a total value of $16,739,778.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 28,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,204,897.24. The trade was a 64.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock traded down $13.54 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $319.26. The company had a trading volume of 2,393,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,499,937. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $164.01 and a one year high of $366.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $296.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $303.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $86.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.91.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The firm had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.62%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

More Royal Caribbean Cruises News

Here are the key news stories impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 2025 results showed solid demand and margin recovery — revenue and EPS rose ~13% and ~36% year‑over‑year, operating profit jumped ~49%, and operating cash generation improved. These fundamentals support analyst bullishness and longer‑term earnings upgrades. RCL Q4 2025 Earnings (QuiverQuant)
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains constructive: broker consensus is around a “Moderate Buy” and many firms maintain buy/overweight ratings with price targets well above current levels — a tailwind for the stock if sentiment persists. Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy (AmericanBankingNews)
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research nudged near‑term EPS estimates slightly higher for Q1 and Q2, signaling some upward revision to the company’s short‑term earnings outlook. (These are modest changes but supportive.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks also published longer‑range projections (FY2027/FY2028) that are mixed — a small cut to FY2027 was offset by higher FY2028 expectations — leaving medium‑term consensus roughly intact.
• Negative Sentiment: Royal Caribbean priced $2.5 billion of senior unsecured notes ($1.25B due 2033 at 4.75% and $1.25B due 2038 at 5.25%). The deal increases debt and fixed interest obligations, which can pressure the stock, especially given already elevated capex and leverage metrics. Pricing of Senior Unsecured Notes (PR Newswire) Royal Caribbean Issues $2.5 Billion in Senior Notes (TipRanks)
• Negative Sentiment: High near‑term capital spending: management’s reported capex jumped materially in Q4, and Quiver data shows insider sales in recent months — both factors can worry investors about future free cash flow and signal reduced insider conviction. Capex & Insider Activity (QuiverQuant)

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RCL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $360.00 price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $353.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, December 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $348.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RCL. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,165,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,088,156,000 after buying an additional 3,215,382 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,253,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,438,292,000 after acquiring an additional 187,283 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,176,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,627,669,000 after purchasing an additional 920,042 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,576,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,433,052,000 after buying an additional 84,202 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,054,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,961,758,000 after purchasing an additional 155,491 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE: RCL), operating as part of the Royal Caribbean Group, is a global cruise company that develops, markets and operates passenger cruise ships. The company operates multiple consumer-facing cruise brands that offer short- and long-duration itineraries and a range of onboard experiences. Its core activities include itineraries and voyage operations, guest services and hospitality, onboard food and beverage, entertainment and recreation programming, and the commercial activities needed to sell and support cruises through both direct and travel‑agent channels.

Royal Caribbean’s ships serve a broad set of geographies worldwide, regularly deploying vessels in the Caribbean, North America (including Alaska), Europe, Asia, Australia and South America.