Patton Fund Management Inc. Sells 168,859 Shares of Carnival Corporation $CCL

Key Points

• Patton Fund Management Inc. has significantly decreased its stake in Carnival Corporation by 93.2%, selling 168,859 shares during the second quarter, leaving it with only 12,321 shares valued at approximately $346,000.
• Institutional investors own 67.19% of Carnival's stock, with notable increases in holdings from firms such as Vanguard Group Inc. and Invesco Ltd. in the first quarter.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Carnival shares, with the consensus target now sitting at $31.95, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.

Patton Fund Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 93.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,321 shares of the company's stock after selling 168,859 shares during the period. Patton Fund Management Inc.'s holdings in Carnival were worth $346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Carnival by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,505,754 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,333,947,000 after acquiring an additional 2,410,188 shares in the last quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Carnival in the 1st quarter valued at about $518,816,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Carnival in the 1st quarter valued at about $432,718,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Carnival by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,965,228 shares of the company's stock valued at $253,211,000 after acquiring an additional 2,566,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Carnival by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,425,707 shares of the company's stock worth $242,674,000 after buying an additional 1,787,015 shares during the period. 67.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Carnival in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Carnival from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Carnival from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Carnival from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Carnival from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Carnival presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 12,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total transaction of $371,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 64,406 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,916,078.50. The trade was a 16.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

Carnival Stock Performance

Shares of CCL stock opened at $30.67 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $30.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. The firm has a market cap of $35.80 billion, a PE ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 2.70. Carnival Corporation has a 12 month low of $15.07 and a 12 month high of $32.80.

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

About Carnival

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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