Short Interest in The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) Decreases By 5.7%

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,490,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the March 15th total of 16,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,360,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.6 days. Approximately 7.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Carlyle Group

In other news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. acquired 190,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.95 per share, for a total transaction of $2,460,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,066,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,807,147.55. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 27.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Carlyle Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CG. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 125.5% in the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in The Carlyle Group in the first quarter worth $31,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Carlyle Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in The Carlyle Group in the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. 55.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on CG shares. Barclays raised their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. TheStreet downgraded shares of The Carlyle Group from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of The Carlyle Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $42.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on The Carlyle Group from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Carlyle Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.07.

The Carlyle Group Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:CG opened at $44.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The Carlyle Group has a one year low of $25.20 and a one year high of $48.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.88. The company has a market cap of $16.16 billion, a PE ratio of -26.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.79.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $896.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $860.68 million. The Carlyle Group had a negative net margin of 20.53% and a positive return on equity of 19.74%. The Carlyle Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Carlyle Group will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -82.84%.

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.