Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Position in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its stake in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) by 7.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 70,377 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,740 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Carnival Co. & were worth $1,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CCL. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in Carnival Co. & in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,140,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 1.0% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,075,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,310,000 after purchasing an additional 39,491 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 72.6% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 246,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,223,000 after purchasing an additional 103,501 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 264,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,892,000 after purchasing an additional 24,198 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 38.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 40,708 shares of the company’s stock valued at $665,000 after buying an additional 11,276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.19% of the company’s stock.

Carnival Co. & Price Performance

NYSE:CCL opened at $24.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88 and a beta of 2.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.75. Carnival Co. & plc has a 1 year low of $13.78 and a 1 year high of $24.99.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 30th. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.10. Carnival Co. & had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 6.39%. The company had revenue of $7.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.82 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.86 earnings per share. Carnival Co. &’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on Carnival Co. & from $24.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Carnival Co. & to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sir Jonathon Band sold 17,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.72, for a total transaction of $380,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 65,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,937.08. This trade represents a 21.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Carnival Co. & Profile

Carnival Corporation & plc engages in the provision of leisure travel services in North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: NAA Cruise Operations, Europe Cruise Operations, Cruise Support, and Tour and Other. It operates port destinations, private islands, and a solar park, as well as owns and operates hotels, lodges, glass-domed railcars, and motor coaches.