Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) Shares Bought by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,476,588 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 60,833 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.13% of Carnival Co. & worth $36,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 175,943 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,384,000 after buying an additional 1,678 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Carnival Co. & by 153.4% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 336,502 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,386,000 after acquiring an additional 203,710 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Carnival Co. & by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 86,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,164,000 after acquiring an additional 18,269 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Carnival Co. & by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 40,202 shares of the company's stock worth $1,002,000 after acquiring an additional 14,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Carnival Co. & in the 4th quarter worth about $59,486,000. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Carnival Co. & Stock Performance

CCL stock traded up $0.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.58. 27,602,249 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,222,198. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.50. Carnival Co. & plc has a 52 week low of $13.78 and a 52 week high of $28.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.04. 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. & (NYSE:CCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 21st. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.11. Carnival Co. & had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 24.13%. The firm had revenue of $5.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.14) earnings per share. Carnival Co. &'s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CCL. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of Carnival Co. & in a report on Friday, April 25th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Tigress Financial reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Carnival Co. & in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Carnival Co. & from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 26th. BNP Paribas began coverage on Carnival Co. & in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Carnival Co. & from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Carnival Co. & has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.53.

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.