Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL Shares Sold by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 75.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,792 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. EWA LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.6% in the third quarter. EWA LLC now owns 794 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 16.1% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 252 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 918 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.0% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of RCL stock opened at $273.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $74.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.55, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $299.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $164.01 and a 12 month high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The company had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.Royal Caribbean Cruises’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is 38.44%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on RCL. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $318.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $353.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 1,385 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.18, for a total transaction of $453,144.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,849 shares in the company, valued at $4,203,935.82. The trade was a 9.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total value of $76,475,593.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,435,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,120,443,401.40. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 1,967,319 shares of company stock worth $626,681,935 over the last 90 days. 6.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company 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.