Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Position in The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 484,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,339 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of The Carlyle Group worth $24,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CG. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 72.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,051,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707,520 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in The Carlyle Group by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,919,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $82,651,000 after acquiring an additional 777,304 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in The Carlyle Group by 22.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,107,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,740,000 after acquiring an additional 391,553 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC purchased a new position in The Carlyle Group in the 4th quarter worth $17,671,000. Finally, Phase 2 Partners LLC purchased a new position in The Carlyle Group in the 3rd quarter worth $7,402,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

The Carlyle Group Trading Down 4.1 %

CG opened at $49.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 2.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.65. The Carlyle Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.65 and a 1-year high of $57.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.70.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.08). The Carlyle Group had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 24.02%. Analysts expect that The Carlyle Group Inc. will post 4.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. The Carlyle Group’s payout ratio is presently 50.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CG shares. StockNews.com lowered The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research upgraded The Carlyle Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on The Carlyle Group from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays cut their price target on The Carlyle Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Carlyle Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.93.

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.