The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) Short Interest Update

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,860,000 shares, a drop of 6.5% from the January 15th total of 9,480,000 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CG. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com upgraded The Carlyle Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 201.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,351,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $320,684,000 after purchasing an additional 4,244,131 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in The Carlyle Group by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 13,249,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $668,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773,465 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 worth $174,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,707,520 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group in the fourth quarter valued at $83,784,000. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC raised its position in The Carlyle Group by 98.8% during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 2,455,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,002,000 after acquiring an additional 1,220,827 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

The Carlyle Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CG traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $52.35. 671,350 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,241,448. The Carlyle Group has a twelve month low of $36.65 and a twelve month high of $57.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.66 and a 200 day moving average of $48.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.70.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.08). The Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 24.91% and a net margin of 2.21%. On average, analysts forecast that The Carlyle Group will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.