By Hossein Forouzandeh From Mideast Times

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) CEO Michael Bayley sold 2,633 shares of the stock on the open market in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.58, for a total value of $138,443.14. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,563 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,816,343. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) traded down 1.31% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.91. 474,824 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 52-week low of $31.37 and a 52-week high of $56.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $52.71 and its 200-day moving average is $48.79. The company has a market cap of $11.530 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58.

Royal Caribbean Cruises (NYSE:RCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. Royal Caribbean Cruises’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Royal Caribbean Cruises will post $3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Thursday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on RCL shares. Analysts at Zacks downgraded shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. They now have a $54.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises from $53.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, April 25th. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.11.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) is a cruise company.

For more on this story go to: http://www.mideasttime.com/insider-selling-michael-bayley-unloads-2633-shares-of-royal-caribbean-cruises-stock-rcl/141393/

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