Northern Trust Corp Acquires 319,264 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL - Free Report) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,364,794 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 319,264 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.88% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $545,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of RCL. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 618.8% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 115 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Bay Harbor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,214 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $37,514,907.30. This represents a 28.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $47,491,190.28. This trade represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on RCL. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $249.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $272.55.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL stock traded up $9.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $230.03. The stock had a trading volume of 2,208,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,301,792. The firm has a market cap of $62.46 billion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $130.08 and a one year high of $277.08. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $209.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.19.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises's payout ratio is presently 28.06%.

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.