Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 461,990 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,066,167 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 461,990 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.02% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $9,728,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 40.8% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 20,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,297,000 after buying an additional 6,063 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.4% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 954 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter worth $287,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 7,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,362,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

RCL stock opened at $319.26 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $164.01 and a one year high of $366.50. The stock has a market cap of $86.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $302.97.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 25.62%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 51,131 shares of the 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 directly owned 28,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,204,897.24. This represents a 64.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 4,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.99, for a total value of $1,456,931.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,067 shares in the company, valued at $3,301,875.33. This represents a 30.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 226,483 shares of company stock valued at $74,052,607 in the last quarter. 6.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $368.00 to $371.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $360.00 price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $348.29.

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.