Trexquant Investment LP Reduces Holdings in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

Trexquant Investment LP lessened its holdings in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 82.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 341,131 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,656,363 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP's holdings in Carnival Co. & were worth $8,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CCL. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,228,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $627,053,000 after buying an additional 1,201,256 shares in the last quarter. Diametric Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Diametric Capital LP now owns 19,014 shares of the company's stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 4,643 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 273.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 220,115 shares of the company's stock worth $5,485,000 after purchasing an additional 161,130 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Carnival Co. & by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,293,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,238,000 after purchasing an additional 136,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 50,129 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,249,000 after purchasing an additional 8,219 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.19% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CCL. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Carnival Co. & from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Carnival Co. & in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Carnival Co. & from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Carnival Co. & in a report on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Carnival Co. & currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.89.

Carnival Co. & Trading Up 17.9 %

Carnival Co. & stock traded up $2.98 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $19.67. The company had a trading volume of 66,842,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,417,977. Carnival Co. & plc has a 12-month low of $13.78 and a 12-month high of $28.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $22.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.15, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.42.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 21st. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.74 billion. Carnival Co. & had a return on equity of 24.13% and a net margin of 7.66%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.14) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.77 earnings per share 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.