Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG)

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 6,629 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 280% compared to the typical volume of 1,746 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CG. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays dropped their target price 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, Wolfe Research raised shares of The Carlyle Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.53.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 68.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,919,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,651,000 after purchasing an additional 777,304 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 302,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,283,000 after buying an additional 18,537 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC acquired a new stake in shares of The Carlyle Group in the 4th quarter worth $17,671,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,406,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,999,000 after acquiring an additional 14,024 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

The Carlyle Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CG opened at $46.24 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $16.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.96 and a 200 day moving average of $49.37. The Carlyle Group has a 52 week low of $36.65 and a 52 week high of $57.50.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Carlyle Group will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. The Carlyle Group’s payout ratio is currently 50.36%.

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.