Wellington Management Group LLP Lowers Stock Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP significantly reduced its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 77% during the first quarter, now holding approximately $51.13 million in shares.
• Royal Caribbean reported earnings of $4.38 per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate and showing a 10.4% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Insider activity revealed directors sold a total of 31,507 shares of Royal Caribbean stock, amounting to over $10 million in sales during the last quarter.

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 77.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 248,876 shares of the company's stock after selling 835,106 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.09% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $51,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in RCL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the first quarter worth about $358,614,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 22,154.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,410,962 shares of the company's stock worth $289,868,000 after purchasing 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% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 963,034 shares of the company's stock worth $222,166,000 after buying an additional 936,609 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,674,763 shares of the company's stock worth $5,890,943,000 after buying an additional 602,447 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 535,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 1.5%

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock traded up $5.39 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $364.46. The company had a trading volume of 821,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,506,200. The stock has a market cap of $99.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.35, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 2.22. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $154.08 and a 1 year high of $365.10. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $324.43 and a 200 day moving average of $262.64.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.04 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RCL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna restated a "positive" rating and set a $385.00 target price (up from $275.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $400.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $235.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $263.00 to $358.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Macquarie cut their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $300.00 to $265.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $327.14.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

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

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.