Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Reduces Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 15.2%, now owning 11,252 shares valued at approximately $2.31 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Nuveen LLC, GAMMA Investing LLC, and Janus Henderson Group PLC, made significant investments and increased their positions in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the first quarter.
• Analysts have set a wide range of price targets for Royal Caribbean Cruises, with estimates ranging from $230 to $367, reflecting a general confidence in the company's future performance.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lessened its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,252 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,020 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $2,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 1st quarter valued at $358,614,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 22,154.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,410,962 shares of the company's stock worth $289,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,404,622 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3,544.4% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 963,034 shares of the company's stock worth $222,166,000 after acquiring an additional 936,609 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,674,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,890,943,000 after acquiring an additional 602,447 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 21.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,991,079 shares of the company's stock worth $614,487,000 after acquiring an additional 535,043 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on RCL shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $230.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Macquarie lowered their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $300.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $302.00 to $367.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $323.10.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Vagn O. Sorensen sold 10,300 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.04, for a total value of $3,399,412.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,414,966.28. The trade was a 38.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 5,207 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.47, for a total value of $1,715,550.29. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,578,432.22. This trade represents a 39.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,507 shares of company stock valued at $10,091,282 in the last ninety days. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE RCL traded down $1.2190 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $328.8510. 1,883,330 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,258,269. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $315.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 2.22. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $154.08 and a 52-week high of $355.91.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $4.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.04 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.54 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 20.97% and a return on equity of 47.15%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.21 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.410-15.550 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 5.550-5.650 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company 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.