Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) Stock

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Royal Caribbean to $330 from $300, but maintained an “equal weight” rating; the new target implies 1.64% downside from the stock’s current price.
• Analyst sentiment is more positive overall: 21 analysts rate the stock Buy and eight Hold, giving it a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target of $356.77.
• In its latest quarter, Royal Caribbean earned $6.57 per share, beating estimates of $6.38, while revenue of $5.59 billion fell short of expectations; revenue rose 8.8% year over year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $300.00 to $330.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's target price indicates a potential downside of 1.64% from the company's current price.

RCL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $345.00 to $394.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Freedom Broker upgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $351.00 to $379.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $330.00 to $375.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $355.00 target price (down from $380.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $370.00 price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Twenty-one analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $356.77.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $335.51 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $279.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $288.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.69. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 12-month low of $222.22 and a 12-month high of $356.39.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $6.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.38 by $0.19. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 43.40% and a net margin of 23.78%. The business had revenue of $5.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post 17.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Maritza Montiel sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.21, for a total transaction of $122,884.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,202 shares in the company, valued at $4,055,786.42. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arne Wilhelmsen sold 220,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.29, for a total transaction of $72,443,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,215,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,339,737,003.90. This represents a 1.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 727,074 shares of company stock valued at $242,087,365. 6.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Royal Caribbean Cruises

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,549,422,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,689,134 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,409,971,000 after purchasing an additional 270,930 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 4,835,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,285,464,000 after purchasing an additional 2,231,864 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at $669,804,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at $597,350,000. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

Royal Caribbean Group, formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., is a global cruise vacation company. Its brands include Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises, which offer voyages ranging from large-ship family vacations to premium and luxury experiences. The company serves travelers through itineraries to destinations around the world, including the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska and Asia. Its vacation offerings combine onboard accommodations, dining and entertainment with shore excursions and visits to ports and private destinations.

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