Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. $RCL

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 68.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 787 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,671 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.2% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,604,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,270,252,000 after purchasing an additional 929,414 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 3.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,492,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,293,302,000 after buying an additional 330,770 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,667,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,079,877,000 after purchasing an additional 415,230 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 9.4% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,317,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,038,997,000 after buying an additional 284,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,021,893,000. 87.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises News Summary

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)

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 4.1%

RCL opened at $319.26 on Friday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 12 month low of $164.01 and a 12 month high of $366.50. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $296.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $303.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.91.

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

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is currently 38.44%.

Insider Transactions at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In related news, CFO Naftali Holtz sold 51,131 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.39, for a total value of $16,739,778.09. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 28,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,204,897.24. This trade represents a 64.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Henry L. Pujol sold 4,442 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.99, for a total transaction of $1,456,931.58. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,301,875.33. This trade represents a 30.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 226,483 shares of company stock valued at $74,052,607. 6.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on RCL. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $310.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $353.00 to $304.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $415.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $332.00 to $398.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $348.29.

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.