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

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the target of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,620,000 shares, an increase of 8.5% from the October 31st total of 9,790,000 shares. Approximately 4.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of The Carlyle Group in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on The Carlyle Group from $55.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.33.

The Carlyle Group Trading Down 0.5 %

CG traded down $0.25 on Wednesday, reaching $52.23. 326,754 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,356,619. The company’s 50 day moving average is $49.73 and its 200-day moving average is $44.54. The company has a market cap of $18.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.97, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.69. The Carlyle Group has a twelve month low of $34.72 and a twelve month high of $55.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.32.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $895.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $908.17 million. The Carlyle Group had a net margin of 2.21% and a return on equity of 24.91%. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.87 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Carlyle Group will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 18th. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 482.76%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 275,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.20, for a total value of $605,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,405,461 shares in the company, valued at $5,292,014.20. The trade was a 10.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel A. D’aniello sold 495,542 shares of The Carlyle Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total value of $25,535,279.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 32,504,102 shares in the company, valued at $1,674,936,376.06. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,171,556 shares of company stock valued at $29,222,475. Corporate insiders own 27.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Carlyle Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 1.1% during the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 4,937,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $198,250,000 after purchasing an additional 54,805 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 72.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,051,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707,520 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 2.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,727,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,524,000 after purchasing an additional 55,662 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 6.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,266,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,999,000 after purchasing an additional 137,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 22.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,107,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,740,000 after purchasing an additional 391,553 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

About The Carlyle Group

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.