The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,790,000 shares, a decline of 37.3% from the October 15th total of 15,610,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days. Approximately 4.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 924,466 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Daniel A. D’aniello sold 495,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total transaction of $25,535,279.26. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,504,102 shares in the company, valued at $1,674,936,376.06. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,171,556 shares of company stock worth $29,222,475. Corporate insiders own 27.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Carlyle Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CG. Tobam bought a new stake in The Carlyle Group in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group by 506.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in The Carlyle Group in the first quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on CG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

The Carlyle Group Stock Performance

CG opened at $50.46 on Friday. The Carlyle Group has a 12-month low of $31.21 and a 12-month high of $54.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 174.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $46.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.65. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.08. The Carlyle Group had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 24.91%. The firm had revenue of $895.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $908.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Carlyle Group will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 482.76%.

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.