Short Interest in The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) Decreases By 9.3%

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,000,000 shares, a decrease of 9.3% from the August 15th total of 17,640,000 shares. Currently, 7.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded The Carlyle Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of The Carlyle Group in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on The Carlyle Group from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.81.

The Carlyle Group Trading Up 2.2 %

CG stock traded up $0.91 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.99. The company had a trading volume of 5,724,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,297,709. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.05. The stock has a market cap of $15.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.40, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.73. The Carlyle Group has a 12 month low of $27.13 and a 12 month high of $50.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.55, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). The Carlyle Group had a positive return on equity of 24.30% and a negative net margin of 11.67%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $808.73 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The Carlyle Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 131.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Carlyle Group will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -78.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 73,713 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.34, for a total transaction of $2,531,304.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,766,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $404,045,195.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 1,969,673 shares of company stock worth $71,897,412 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 27.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in The Carlyle Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $130,771,000. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in shares of The Carlyle Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $142,511,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $109,122,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,876,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,012,212,000 after buying an additional 1,756,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 194.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,593,761 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $105,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712,133 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.