State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Increases Stock Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,095 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $20,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 76.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 28,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,142,000 after acquiring an additional 12,530 shares in the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the third quarter valued at $800,000. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 541.0% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after buying an additional 8,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 725,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,699,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Richard D. Fain sold 19,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 185,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,491,190.28. This represents a 9.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total value of $763,922.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,348 shares in the company, valued at $5,243,287.76. This trade represents a 12.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 162,109 shares of company stock valued at $38,919,868. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on RCL shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $283.00 to $304.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Macquarie boosted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $270.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $284.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of RCL opened at $262.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $113.10 and a 1 year high of $277.08. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $243.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.17 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) 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 in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 20.58%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company 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.