Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) Shares Bought by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 344,773 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,328 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Carnival Co. & were worth $6,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CCL. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 210.1% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,894,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,200,000 after acquiring an additional 2,638,564 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Carnival Co. & during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,236,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Carnival Co. & by 117.5% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,498,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000,000 after buying an additional 1,890,081 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Carnival Co. & by 1,589.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,789,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,750,000 after buying an additional 1,683,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. lifted its stake in Carnival Co. & by 50.8% during the third quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,160,000 after buying an additional 1,010,000 shares in the last quarter. 67.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Carnival Co. & Stock Performance

Shares of CCL traded down $1.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 56,577,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,724,492. Carnival Co. & plc has a one year low of $10.84 and a one year high of $19.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a PE ratio of 59.00 and a beta of 2.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.10.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. Carnival Co. & had a return on equity of 7.75% and a net margin of 1.79%. Carnival Co. &’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.55) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.01 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on CCL shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Carnival Co. & in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Carnival Co. & from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Carnival Co. & from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on Carnival Co. & from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Carnival Co. & presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.61.

Carnival Co. & Company Profile

Carnival Corporation & plc engages in the provision of leisure travel services in North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: NAA Cruise Operations, Europe Cruise Operations, Cruise Support, and Tour and Other. It operates port destinations, private islands, and a solar park, as well as owns and operates hotels, lodges, glass-domed railcars, and motor coaches.