Carnival Co. & Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CCL)

Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 375,778 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 320% compared to the typical volume of 89,506 call options.

Carnival Co. & Trading Down 4.9 %

NYSE CCL opened at $16.34 on Friday. Carnival Co. & has a 1-year low of $8.70 and a 1-year high of $19.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.14. The company has a market capitalization of $18.29 billion, a PE ratio of -136.16 and a beta of 2.54. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.34.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 27th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Carnival Co. & had a negative net margin of 0.34% and a positive return on equity of 0.02%. Carnival Co. &’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.55) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Carnival Co. & will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Carnival Co. & in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Carnival Co. & from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Carnival Co. & in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Carnival Co. & from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Carnival Co. & has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Carnival Co. & news, CFO David Bernstein sold 153,995 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.37, for a total value of $2,366,903.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 181,981 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,047.97. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carnival Co. &

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CCL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Carnival Co. & by 19.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 109,251,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $768,036,000 after buying an additional 17,815,226 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Carnival Co. & by 177.5% during the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 8,132,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,142,000 after buying an additional 5,201,843 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Carnival Co. & by 210.1% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,894,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,200,000 after buying an additional 2,638,564 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in Carnival Co. & by 27.6% during the first quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 11,197,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,658,000 after buying an additional 2,423,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Carnival Co. & during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,236,000. 67.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Carnival Co. &

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.