Evoke Wealth LLC Takes $263,000 Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Evoke Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.8% during the third quarter. D1 Capital Partners L.P. now owns 1,570,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,502,000 after acquiring an additional 58,159 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 worth $350,418,000 after acquiring an additional 48,480 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 502,349 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 591,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,918,000 after acquiring an additional 13,520 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 569,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,468,000 after acquiring an additional 18,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $215.26 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $240.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $220.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.17 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. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.53.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 28.06%.

Royal Caribbean Cruises announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 1.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on RCL. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $280.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $253.00 price target (down previously from $255.00) on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 58,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.95, for a total value of $15,193,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 143,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,514,907.30. This represents a 28.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 14,992 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.86, for a total value of $3,925,805.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,539,648.30. This trade represents a 41.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 109,492 shares of company stock valued at $28,571,705. 7.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.