Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) CAO Henry Pujol Sells 4,442 Shares

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) CAO Henry Pujol sold 4,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.99, for a total value of $1,456,931.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,067 shares in the company, valued at $3,301,875.33. This trade represents a 30.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Price Performance

Royal Caribbean Cruises stock opened at $319.26 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $296.69 and its 200 day moving average is $303.37. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has a one year low of $164.01 and a one year high of $366.50. The firm has a market cap of $86.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 0.18 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last released its 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 business had revenue of $4.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 billion. Royal Caribbean Cruises had a net margin of 23.80% and a return on equity of 45.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. will post 14.9 EPS for the current year.

Royal Caribbean Cruises declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, December 10th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. This is an increase from Royal Caribbean Cruises’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

RCL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted 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 note on Friday, January 30th. Mizuho set a $379.00 target price on Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research report on Friday, January 30th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Royal Caribbean Cruises from $321.00 to $318.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $373.00 to $383.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 1st. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $348.29.

Key Headlines Impacting Royal Caribbean Cruises

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)

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises by 11.1% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 433,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,595,000 after buying an additional 43,184 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Royal Caribbean Cruises during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,806,000. Marion Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises during the second quarter valued at $291,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 7.4% in the second quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 180,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,539,000 after buying an additional 12,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Royal Caribbean Cruises by 253.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 556,061 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,241,000 after acquiring an additional 398,849 shares in the last quarter. 87.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Royal Caribbean Cruises

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.