LPL Financial LLC Sells 16,231 Shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL)

LPL Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 714,313 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,231 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Carnival worth $13,951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CCL. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Carnival by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 73,391 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in shares of Carnival by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 70,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Carnival by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Carnival by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 11,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Carnival by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 55,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 12,500 shares of Carnival stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total transaction of $371,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 64,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,916,078.50. This trade represents a 16.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CCL shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Carnival from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. HSBC upgraded shares of Carnival from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of Carnival in a report on Friday, April 25th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Carnival from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Carnival from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.71.

Carnival Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of CCL stock opened at $29.24 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.11 and a 200-day moving average of $23.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The firm has a market cap of $34.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 2.70. Carnival Corporation has a 12 month low of $13.95 and a 12 month high of $31.01.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $6.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. Carnival had a return on equity of 27.88% and a net margin of 9.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Carnival Corporation will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Carnival Company Profile

Carnival Corp. engages in the operation of cruise ships. It operates through the following business segments: North America and Australia (NAA) Cruise, Europe and Asia (EA) Cruise Operations, Cruise Support, and Tour and Others. The North America and Australia (NAA) Cruise segment includes the Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, and Seabourn.