National Pension Service Raises Stake in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 50.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,660,437 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 895,603 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.23% of Carnival Co. & worth $49,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Carnival Co. & by 22.1% in the second quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 3,480 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in Carnival Co. & by 2.8% during the third quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 23,659 shares of the company's stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 0.4% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 206,795 shares of the company's stock worth $3,379,000 after buying an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Carnival Co. & by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 26,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Carnival Co. & by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 12,368 shares of the company's stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Carnival Co. &

In related news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 17,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.72, for a total transaction of $380,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 65,789 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,428,937.08. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 11.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Carnival Co. & Trading Up 7.9 %

CCL traded up $1.78 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.23. 37,555,680 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,836,402. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04 and a beta of 2.66. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $19.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10. Carnival Co. & plc has a 1-year low of $12.16 and a 1-year high of $24.27.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $7.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.82 billion. Carnival Co. & had a net margin of 6.39% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on CCL shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Carnival Co. & from $15.00 to $16.50 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.53.

About Carnival Co. &

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.