AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Has $53.14 Million Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd decreased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 164,215 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,660 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $53,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of RCL. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 39,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,453,000 after buying an additional 4,558 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.1% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 433,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,595,000 after acquiring an additional 43,184 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter worth about $4,806,000. WESPAC Advisors LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at about $522,000. Finally, Marion Wealth Management bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 2nd quarter valued at about $291,000. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,010,571.84. This represents a 7.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $360.00 price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $286.00 to $275.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 15th. One investment 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $328.76.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 0.5%

RCL stock opened at $291.98 on Thursday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1-year low of $164.01 and a 1-year high of $366.50. The stock has a market cap of $79.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $279.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $304.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The company reported $5.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.68 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $5.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.16 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 44.68%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.20 EPS. Analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 26th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 26.90%.

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.