Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Holdings Boosted by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management raised its stake in Royal Caribbean by 5.4% to 130,003 shares (worth about $36.3M), as institutional investors now own roughly 87.5% of the stock.
• Company insiders have been big sellers recently — Director Arne Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares and CEO Jason Liberty sold 90,910 shares, with insiders offloading 1,967,319 shares worth about $626.7M over the last 90 days (insiders hold 6.95%).
• Royal Caribbean raised its quarterly dividend to $1.50 ($6.00 annualized, a 2.4% yield) and reported quarterly EPS of $2.80 with revenue up 13.2%, while analysts maintain a "Moderate Buy" consensus and a $352.89 average target.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,003 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,641 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $36,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 20,918 shares of the company's stock worth $4,297,000 after buying an additional 6,063 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter worth $1,762,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 5.4% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,772 shares of the company's stock worth $1,494,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the second quarter worth $357,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total value of $113,355,118.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,681,386 shares in the company, valued at $5,311,186,488.54. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.81, for a total value of $29,710,297.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 218,822 shares of the company's stock, valued at $71,513,217.82. This represents a 29.35% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL opened at $253.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $280.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $285.96. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $203.85 and a 52-week high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.63 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 17.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Royal Caribbean Cruises's dividend payout ratio is 38.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on RCL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $376.00 to $341.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $383.00 to $349.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $352.89.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding RCL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.