Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Has $109.78 Million Stock Holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lowered its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 475,850 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,640 shares during the quarter. Royal Caribbean Cruises makes up approximately 1.0% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. owned approximately 0.18% of Royal Caribbean Cruises worth $109,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 76.1% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 28,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,142,000 after acquiring an additional 12,530 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 2.6% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 289,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,349,000 after acquiring an additional 7,298 shares during the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in the 3rd quarter valued at about $800,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 541.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 8,353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on RCL shares. Barclays upped their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $287.00 to $308.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $245.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $250.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $232.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $271.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.12.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of RCL opened at $264.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.17. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 52 week low of $113.10 and a 52 week high of $277.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.73, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 2.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $242.64 and a 200-day moving average of $205.28.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 prior year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.58%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 139,353 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now directly owns 18,167,507 shares in the company, valued at $4,321,868,240.23. This represents a 0.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Harri U. Kulovaara sold 3,256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,243,287.76. This represents a 12.72 % 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 valued at $87,647,208. Insiders own 7.95% of the company’s stock.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.