Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 870,282 Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 870,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,687,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 175,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 203,710 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 18,269 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 40,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,002,000 after buying an additional 14,165 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Carnival Co. & by 72.3% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,870,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,052,000 after buying an additional 1,204,500 shares during the period. 67.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their price target on Carnival Co. & from $26.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Carnival Co. & in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on Carnival Co. & from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Loop Capital assumed coverage on Carnival Co. & in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Carnival Co. & from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Carnival Co. & has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.89.

Carnival Co. & Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE CCL opened at $19.93 on Friday. Carnival Co. & plc has a one year low of $13.78 and a one year high of $28.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.66.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 20th. The company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.06. Carnival Co. & had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 24.13%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.07) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carnival Co. & 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.