Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Grows Holdings in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 17.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 176,031 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 25,628 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA's holdings in Carnival were worth $3,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Carnival by 24.9% in the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 290,742 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,678,000 after purchasing an additional 57,953 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Carnival by 29.4% in the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 5,407 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Carnival by 34.6% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 17,213 shares of the company's stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,420 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Carnival by 5.0% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Carnival by 9.6% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 135,915 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,654,000 after purchasing an additional 11,952 shares during the period. 67.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CCL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Carnival from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Carnival in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Carnival in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Carnival from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Carnival from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.06.

Carnival Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE CCL opened at $29.56 on Friday. Carnival Corporation has a 1 year low of $13.78 and a 1 year high of $30.46. The stock has a market cap of $34.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 2.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.30 and a 200 day moving average of $23.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $6.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.20 billion. Carnival had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 27.88%. Carnival's revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Carnival Corporation will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carnival 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.

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