Sapient Capital LLC Invests $597,000 in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 32,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $597,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 19.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 109,251,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,036,000 after buying an additional 17,815,226 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $153,142,000 after buying an additional 5,201,843 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings 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 valued at $113,658,000 after buying an additional 2,423,700 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 117.5% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,498,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000,000 after buying an additional 1,890,081 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service purchased a new position in Carnival Co. & during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,234,000. 67.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Carnival Co. & Stock Down 4.1 %

CCL opened at $14.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.12 billion, a PE ratio of 55.23 and a beta of 2.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27. Carnival Co. & plc has a twelve month low of $8.70 and a twelve month high of $19.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $15.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.40.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.42 billion. Carnival Co. & had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 7.75%. Carnival Co. &’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.55) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CCL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Carnival Co. & from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Carnival Co. & from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Carnival Co. & presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.47.

Insider Transactions at Carnival Co. &

In other news, CFO David Bernstein sold 153,995 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.37, for a total transaction of $2,366,903.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 181,981 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,797,047.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 11.00% of the company’s stock.

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.