Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) CAO Henry Pujol Sells 4,442 Shares

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CAO Henry Pujol sold 4,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.99, for a total transaction of $1,456,931.58. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,301,875.33. This represents a 30.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Shares of RCL traded down $13.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $319.26. The company had a trading volume of 2,393,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,499,937. The company’s 50-day moving average is $296.69 and its 200-day moving average is $303.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $86.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.91. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $164.01 and a twelve month high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.80. The company had revenue of $4.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.62%.

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

Key Royal Caribbean Cruises News

Here are the key news stories impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 2025 results showed solid demand and margin recovery — revenue and EPS rose ~13% and ~36% year‑over‑year, operating profit jumped ~49%, and operating cash generation improved. These fundamentals support analyst bullishness and longer‑term earnings upgrades. RCL Q4 2025 Earnings (QuiverQuant)
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street remains constructive: broker consensus is around a “Moderate Buy” and many firms maintain buy/overweight ratings with price targets well above current levels — a tailwind for the stock if sentiment persists. Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy (AmericanBankingNews)
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research nudged near‑term EPS estimates slightly higher for Q1 and Q2, signaling some upward revision to the company’s short‑term earnings outlook. (These are modest changes but supportive.)
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks also published longer‑range projections (FY2027/FY2028) that are mixed — a small cut to FY2027 was offset by higher FY2028 expectations — leaving medium‑term consensus roughly intact.
• Negative Sentiment: Royal Caribbean priced $2.5 billion of senior unsecured notes ($1.25B due 2033 at 4.75% and $1.25B due 2038 at 5.25%). The deal increases debt and fixed interest obligations, which can pressure the stock, especially given already elevated capex and leverage metrics. Pricing of Senior Unsecured Notes (PR Newswire) Royal Caribbean Issues $2.5 Billion in Senior Notes (TipRanks)
• Negative Sentiment: High near‑term capital spending: management’s reported capex jumped materially in Q4, and Quiver data shows insider sales in recent months — both factors can worry investors about future free cash flow and signal reduced insider conviction. Capex & Insider Activity (QuiverQuant)

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RCL. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 36,165,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,088,156,000 after buying an additional 3,215,382 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,253,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,438,292,000 after purchasing an additional 187,283 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 20,176,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,627,669,000 after acquiring an additional 920,042 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,576,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,433,052,000 after purchasing an additional 84,202 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,054,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,961,758,000 after acquiring an additional 155,491 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RCL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $324.00 to $361.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $348.29.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.