State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 25,100 Shares of Carnival Corporation $CCL

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in Carnival Corporation by 6.5%, ending with 358,468 shares valued at approximately $7 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their positions in Carnival, with SouthState Corp growing its stake by 9.8%, while 67.19% of Carnival's stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Research analysts have upgraded Carnival's stock, with target prices rising; Bank of America set a new target of $38.00 while the consensus rating is currently a "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $30.71.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its stake in Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 358,468 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,100 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Carnival were worth $7,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SouthState Corp grew its stake in Carnival by 9.8% during the first quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 5,976 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Carnival by 0.8% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 73,391 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Carnival by 5.0% in the first quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 12,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of Carnival by 2.8% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 23,027 shares of the company's stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems raised its holdings in shares of Carnival by 0.9% during the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 70,058 shares of the company's stock worth $1,368,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CCL. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Carnival from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. HSBC raised shares of Carnival from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, May 16th. Susquehanna increased 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Carnival from $31.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Carnival in a research report on Friday, April 25th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.71.

Carnival Trading Up 6.9%

CCL stock traded up $2.0180 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $31.2880. 23,325,136 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,612,443. The company has a current ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.58. Carnival Corporation has a 52-week low of $15.07 and a 52-week high of $31.38. The company has a market cap of $36.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 2.70. The stock's fifty day moving average is $28.35 and its 200-day moving average is $23.89.

Carnival (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 24th. The company reported $0.35 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 analyst estimates of $6.20 billion. Carnival had a net margin of 9.72% and a return on equity of 27.88%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. Carnival has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.970-1.970 EPS. Q3 2025 guidance at 1.300-1.300 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Carnival Corporation will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 64,406 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,916,078.50. This trade represents a 16.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 7.60% of the company's stock.

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.