Marshall Financial Group LLC Buys New Shares in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 5,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,508,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,747,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 22.0% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,390,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Up 5.7%

Shares of RCL stock opened at $278.68 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $301.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $2.80 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.80. The company had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a return on equity of 45.06% and a net margin of 23.80%.The firm’s revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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 approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 90,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.81, for a total transaction of $29,710,297.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 218,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,513,217.82. This represents a 29.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 356,026 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.39, for a total transaction of $113,355,118.14. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,681,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,311,186,488.54. This trade represents a 2.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,967,319 shares of company stock valued at $626,681,935. 6.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $321.00 to $318.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $290.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.52.

Royal Caribbean Cruises 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.