Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) Stock Position Increased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 109.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,846 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 29,716 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Carnival Co. & were worth $1,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 186.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,898,906 shares of the company's stock worth $246,681,000 after acquiring an additional 6,444,444 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 22,850,042 shares of the company's stock worth $569,423,000 after acquiring an additional 5,761,489 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,095,566 shares of the company's stock worth $2,918,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,458,329 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of Carnival Co. & in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,845,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 228.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,689,305 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,857,000 after buying an additional 3,263,204 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.19% of the company's stock.

Carnival Co. & Stock Performance

Carnival Co. & stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.31. 16,618,537 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,475,406. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80. Carnival Co. & plc has a one year low of $13.78 and a one year high of $28.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.96. The company has a market cap of $28.36 billion, a PE ratio of 17.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.58.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $5.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.74 billion. Carnival Co. & had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 24.13%. The company's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.14) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.77 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on CCL shares. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Carnival Co. & in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Carnival Co. & from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. HSBC upgraded shares of Carnival Co. & from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Carnival Co. & from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $26.47.

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.