Machina Capital S.A.S. Makes New $574,000 Investment in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

Machina Capital S.A.S. purchased a new stake in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 30,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 447.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 215,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,959,000 after acquiring an additional 176,286 shares during the period. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Carnival Co. & during the 4th quarter worth about $1,368,000. Patton Fund Management Inc. boosted its stake in Carnival Co. & by 981.9% during the 3rd quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 109,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after purchasing an additional 99,046 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 126.1% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 740,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,782,000 after buying an additional 413,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blackstone Inc. grew its stake in shares of Carnival Co. & by 50.8% in the third quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,010,000 shares during the last quarter. 67.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Carnival Co. & Price Performance

Shares of CCL stock traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $14.60. 29,195,029 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,243,738. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.55 and its 200-day moving average is $15.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27, a current ratio of 0.36 and a quick ratio of 0.32. Carnival Co. & plc has a 52 week low of $9.68 and a 52 week high of $19.74. The stock has a market cap of $16.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.15 and a beta of 2.53.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 27th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.18) by $0.04. Carnival Co. & had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 7.75%. The firm had revenue of $5.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.55) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CCL. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Carnival Co. & in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Carnival Co. & in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Argus decreased their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Carnival Co. & from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Carnival Co. & in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.47.

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.