J. Goldman & Co LP Increases Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

J. Goldman & Co LP raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,264 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,176 shares during the period. J. Goldman & Co LP's holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $7,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of RCL. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,712,610 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,854,905,000 after acquiring an additional 278,860 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,476,003,000 after purchasing an additional 2,068,114 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,969,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,373,856,000 after purchasing an additional 353,893 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter worth approximately $707,833,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,653,258 shares of the company's stock valued at $612,080,000 after purchasing an additional 513,702 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on RCL shares. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $249.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $253.00 price target (down from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $271.30.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of RCL traded up $3.82 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $251.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,508,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,291,839. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The company has a market capitalization of $68.32 billion, a PE ratio of 23.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.12. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $130.08 and a one year high of $277.08. The company's fifty day moving average price is $210.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.11.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.18. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Royal Caribbean Cruises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.92%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total value of $15,193,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares of the company's stock, valued at $37,514,907.30. This trade represents a 28.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.68, for a total value of $5,005,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 185,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. This trade represents a 9.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.