GAMMA Investing LLC Takes Position in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 9,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $179,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Carnival Co. & by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 7,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the period. Scott & Selber Inc. grew its position in Carnival Co. & by 50.6% during the fourth quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 145,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after buying an additional 48,759 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Carnival Co. & by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 684,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,695,000 after buying an additional 209,773 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in Carnival Co. & by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 32,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 2,097 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Carnival Co. & by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $197,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCL has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Carnival Co. & in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Carnival Co. & in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Macquarie increased their target price on shares of Carnival Co. & from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Argus cut their target price on shares of Carnival Co. & from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Carnival Co. & has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.47.

Carnival Co. & Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE CCL opened at $15.09 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.02 and a beta of 2.54. Carnival Co. & plc has a one year low of $8.72 and a one year high of $19.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.46.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.55) earnings per share. Carnival Co. &’s revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Carnival Co. & 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.