Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $17.88 Million Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,248 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,991 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $17,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 8,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 1st quarter valued at about $406,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $301,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 6,063 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $334.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $420.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $333.00 to $321.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given 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 a consensus target price of $324.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.76, for a total transaction of $309,936.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,010,571.84. The trade was a 7.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of RCL opened at $311.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $84.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.94, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.94. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12-month low of $164.01 and a 12-month high of $366.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.39.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $5.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.68 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.16 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 44.68% and a net margin of 23.33%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.20 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises has set its FY 2025 guidance at 15.580-15.630 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.740-2.790 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 26th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is 26.90%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Profile

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.