Signaturefd LLC Increases Stake in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,648 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 852 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Carnival Co. & were worth $197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CCL. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 447.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 215,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,959,000 after acquiring an additional 176,286 shares in the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Carnival Co. & during the fourth quarter worth $1,368,000. Patton Fund Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 981.9% during the third quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 109,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 99,046 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 126.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 740,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,782,000 after buying an additional 413,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. raised its stake in Carnival Co. & by 50.8% in 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 currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CCL. Argus lowered their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Carnival Co. & from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 25th. Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Carnival Co. & from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Carnival Co. & from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David Bernstein sold 153,995 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.37, for a total value of $2,366,903.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 181,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,797,047.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.00% of the company’s stock.

Carnival Co. & Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CCL opened at $15.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $16.92 billion, a PE ratio of 58.00 and a beta of 2.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.47. Carnival Co. & plc has a 1-year low of $8.72 and a 1-year high of $19.74.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. Carnival Co. & had a return on equity of 7.75% and a net margin of 1.79%. The business had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.55) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

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.