ING Groep NV Acquires New Stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

ING Groep NV bought a new stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,782,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. D1 Capital Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,570,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,502,000 after purchasing an additional 58,159 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 725,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,699,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 591,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,918,000 after acquiring an additional 13,520 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 569,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,468,000 after acquiring an additional 18,868 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 10,599.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 409,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,696,000 after acquiring an additional 406,048 shares during the period. 87.53% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total transaction of $15,193,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 143,214 shares in the company, valued at $37,514,907.30. This trade represents a 28.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.62, for a total value of $4,447,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,127 shares in the company, valued at $11,021,265.74. This represents a 28.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 109,492 shares of company stock worth $28,571,705 in the last quarter. 7.95% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 target price (down from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of NYSE RCL opened at $234.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $119.48 and a fifty-two week high of $277.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.02 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.59. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $244.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.86.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.58%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Profile

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.