National Pension Service Has $60.09 Million Stock Holdings in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

National Pension Service reduced its position in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,411,294 shares of the company’s stock after selling 249,143 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.21% of Carnival Co. & worth $60,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Carnival Co. & by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 175,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Carnival Co. & by 153.4% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 336,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,386,000 after purchasing an additional 203,710 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Carnival Co. & by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 86,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,164,000 after purchasing an additional 18,269 shares during the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Carnival Co. & by 54.4% in the 4th quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 40,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after purchasing an additional 14,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Carnival Co. & by 72.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,870,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,052,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204,500 shares during the last quarter. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CCL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Carnival Co. & presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.11.

Carnival Co. & Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CCL opened at $23.51 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.25. Carnival Co. & plc has a 1 year low of $13.78 and a 1 year high of $28.72.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 20th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.94 billion. Carnival Co. & had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 24.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.07) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carnival Co. & 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.