Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) Stock Holdings Cut by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL – Get Rating) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 263,557 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,557 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises were worth $13,028,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RCL. Accurate Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 86.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC bought a new stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter worth $53,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 63.1% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 742 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 83.3% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. 74.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Stock Performance

RCL opened at $77.26 on Thursday. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a 1 year low of $31.09 and a 1 year high of $81.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.41, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $67.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.75.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.71) by $0.48. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a negative return on equity of 25.86% and a negative net margin of 9.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($4.57) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 172.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RCL has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 10th. Bank of America raised Royal Caribbean Cruises from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $82.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $88.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Royal Caribbean Cruises has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Royal Caribbean Cruises

In other Royal Caribbean Cruises news, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 375,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.74, for a total transaction of $30,277,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,689,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,670,480,887.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Jason T. Liberty sold 36,536 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $2,922,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 147,078 shares in the company, valued at $11,766,240. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arne Alexander Wilhelmsen sold 375,000 shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.74, for a total value of $30,277,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 20,689,632 shares in the company, valued at $1,670,480,887.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.70% of the company’s stock.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Profile

(Get Rating)

Royal Caribbean Group is a cruise company, which engages in the ownership and operation of the following global cruise brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises. The firm also holds interest in TUI Cruises GmbH, which operates the German brands TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.