National Pension Service Buys 15,209 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

National Pension Service lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 941,800 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,209 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.35% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $304,748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of RCL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 12.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 40.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 20,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,297,000 after purchasing an additional 6,063 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 19.5% in the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 44,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,829,000 after buying an additional 7,210 shares in the last quarter. LBP AM SA bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at $2,918,000. Finally, Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp purchased a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter worth about $306,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises

Here are the key news stories impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company raised FY‑2026 and Q1‑2026 EPS guidance above Street forecasts (FY guidance $17.70–$18.10; Q1 guidance $3.18–$3.28), signaling confidence in demand and pricing power. ROYAL CARIBBEAN GROUP REPORTS 2025 RESULTS, ISSUES 2026 GUIDANCE
• Positive Sentiment: Management cited record Wave booking season and strong onboard spend that helped produce robust 2026 revenue and profit outlooks — the primary catalyst behind recent trading strength. Royal Caribbean raises annual profit forecast on strong demand; shares jump
• Positive Sentiment: Early results from the new private destination, Royal Beach Club Paradise Island, are reportedly high‑margin and accelerating profitability expectations — a potential long‑term revenue/profit enhancer. RCL Stock’s Beach Club Secret Changes Everything
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 results showed meaningful year‑over‑year improvement (EPS $2.80) but revenue slightly missed consensus; the print met EPS estimates while guidance carried the positive headline. View Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: Company is expanding its vacation portfolio (Discovery Class orders) and adding 10 river cruise ships via Celebrity River Cruises — growth investments that support future revenue diversification. Discovery Class announcement Celebrity River Cruises expansion
• Negative Sentiment: After the big rally on guidance, some intraday selling appears to be profit‑taking; the recent surge may leave the stock vulnerable to short‑term pullbacks. MarketWatch: stock surges
• Negative Sentiment: Balance‑sheet/liquidity metrics remain stretched relative to cash runway (high debt-to-equity and low quick/current ratios), which increases sensitivity to higher interest rates or weaker demand. Zacks coverage

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.76, for a total transaction of $309,936.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,234 shares in the company, valued at $4,010,571.84. This trade represents a 7.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $324.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.18. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52-week low of $164.01 and a 52-week high of $366.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $282.50 and a 200-day moving average of $304.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.94.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. The company had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 26th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 26th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 25.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RCL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $321.00 to $318.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $370.00 price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $353.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $367.00 to $357.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $338.95.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.