Norges Bank Takes $707.83 Million Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,068,331 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $707,833,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.14% of Royal Caribbean Cruises at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of RCL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,072,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,476,003,000 after buying an additional 2,068,114 shares during the last quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.8% in the third quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,570,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,502,000 after acquiring an additional 58,159 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,519,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,418,000 after purchasing an additional 48,480 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 864,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,327,000 after purchasing an additional 502,349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 591,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,918,000 after purchasing an additional 13,520 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on RCL shares. Macquarie raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.33.

Insider Activity at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total value of $3,925,805.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. This represents a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,491,190.28. This represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $217.23 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $239.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $125.06 and a 12 month high of $277.08.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.13. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 17.46% and a return on equity of 48.97%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.