Empowered Funds LLC Buys 26,865 Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 804.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,205 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,865 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $6,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 76.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 28,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,142,000 after purchasing an additional 12,530 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 289,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,349,000 after purchasing an additional 7,298 shares in the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the third quarter worth $800,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 541.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after buying an additional 8,353 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

RCL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $253.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $245.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.62, for a total transaction of $763,922.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,243,287.76. This trade represents a 12.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 139,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.89, for a total value of $33,150,685.17. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,167,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,321,868,240.23. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 372,609 shares of company stock worth $87,647,208. 7.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of RCL opened at $261.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.43, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a twelve month low of $113.10 and a twelve month high of $277.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $242.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $205.82.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $1.25 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.96 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s payout ratio is 20.58%.

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.