Semanteon Capital Management LP Takes Position in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL)

Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Carnival Co. & plc (NYSE:CCL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 39,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 4,044,828 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,495,000 after acquiring an additional 272,042 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 117.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,498,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,890,081 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,164,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,420,000 after acquiring an additional 44,972 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. increased its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 50.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Carnival Co. & by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 1,882,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,833,000 after acquiring an additional 82,869 shares in the last quarter. 67.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO David Bernstein sold 153,995 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $2,797,047.97. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on CCL. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Carnival Co. & from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $22.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Carnival Co. & from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Carnival Co. & in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Carnival Co. & in a research note on Monday. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on Carnival Co. & in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.47.

Carnival Co. & Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:CCL traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $15.09. 20,446,324 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 31,717,680. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $15.57 and its 200-day moving average is $15.44. Carnival Co. & plc has a 12-month low of $8.72 and a 12-month high of $19.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.00 and a beta of 2.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27.

Carnival Co. & (NYSE:CCL) last released its 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. Carnival Co. & had a return on equity of 7.75% and a net margin of 1.79%. The business had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.55) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Carnival Co. & plc will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

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.