Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen Sells 100,000 Shares

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.58, for a total transaction of $32,658,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,067,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,900,486,436.06. This represents a 0.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, February 17th, Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 180,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.09, for a total value of $58,516,200.00.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 1.4%

RCL stock traded down $4.62 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $319.11. 1,725,531 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,430,120. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $164.01 and a twelve month high of $366.50. The firm has a market cap of $86.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $299.53 and its 200 day moving average is $303.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 38.44%.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.1% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 433,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,595,000 after buying an additional 43,184 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter worth $4,806,000. Marion Wealth Management purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at about $291,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7.4% during the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 180,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,539,000 after acquiring an additional 12,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 253.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 556,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,241,000 after purchasing an additional 398,849 shares during the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $321.00 to $318.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.29.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.