Dorsey Wright & Associates Has $9.07 Million Position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Dorsey Wright & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 33.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,014 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,026 shares during the period. Royal Caribbean Cruises comprises about 2.0% of Dorsey Wright & Associates’ holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Dorsey Wright & Associates’ holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $9,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.1% in the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 433,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,595,000 after purchasing an additional 43,184 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,806,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,066,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,728,810,000 after purchasing an additional 461,990 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 49.3% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 117,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,931,000 after purchasing an additional 38,698 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 39,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,659,000 after purchasing an additional 6,253 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Laura H. Bethge sold 7,854 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.21, for a total value of $2,562,053.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 32,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,695,121.06. This represents a 19.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 245,476 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.54, for a total transaction of $76,475,593.04. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,435,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,120,443,401.40. The trade was a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock worth $626,681,935 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.95% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of RCL opened at $277.94 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $303.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.87. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12-month low of $164.01 and a 12-month high of $366.50.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The company had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be given a $1.50 dividend. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $371.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.52.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Company Profile

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.