The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Friday morning.

CG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on The Carlyle Group from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on The Carlyle Group in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on The Carlyle Group from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on The Carlyle Group from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.33.

The Carlyle Group Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ CG opened at $53.65 on Friday. The Carlyle Group has a 12 month low of $32.09 and a 12 month high of $54.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $48.30 and a 200-day moving average of $44.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 2.32. The company has a market cap of $19.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 185.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.70.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.08. The Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 24.91% and a net margin of 2.21%. The business had revenue of $895.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $908.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Carlyle Group will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The Carlyle Group’s payout ratio is 482.76%.

Insider Transactions at The Carlyle Group

In related news, Director Daniel A. D’aniello sold 495,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total transaction of $25,535,279.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,504,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,674,936,376.06. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 924,466 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.14, for a total value of $1,978,357.24. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,643,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,796,514.34. This represents a 20.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,171,556 shares of company stock valued at $29,222,475. 27.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Carlyle Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in The Carlyle Group in the 1st quarter worth about $109,122,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,051,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,707,520 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 17,468.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,715,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,887,000 after acquiring an additional 1,705,982 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in The Carlyle Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,009,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in The Carlyle Group in the 1st quarter worth about $23,455,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

The Carlyle Group Company Profile

The Carlyle Group Inc is an investment firm specializing in direct and fund of fund investments. Within direct investments, it specializes in management-led/ Leveraged buyouts, privatizations, divestitures, strategic minority equity investments, structured credit, global distressed and corporate opportunities, small and middle market, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, senior debt, mezzanine and leveraged finance, and venture and growth capital financings, seed/startup, early venture, emerging growth, turnaround, mid venture, late venture, PIPES.