UBS Group AG Buys 226,776 Shares of Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. $CGBD

UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGBD) by 35.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 862,260 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 226,776 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned approximately 1.69% of Carlyle Secured Lending worth $10,770,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending during the third quarter worth about $1,206,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 519,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,491,000 after purchasing an additional 101,242 shares in the last quarter. North Ground Capital purchased a new stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending during the third quarter worth about $5,952,000. Muzinich & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. Muzinich & Co. Inc. now owns 736,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,198,000 after purchasing an additional 236,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Carlyle Secured Lending during the third quarter worth about $3,133,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 24.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on CGBD shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Carlyle Secured Lending from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Carlyle Secured Lending in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Carlyle Secured Lending from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Carlyle Secured Lending has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.50.

Carlyle Secured Lending Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CGBD opened at $11.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.61 and a 1 year high of $14.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.96. The company has a market cap of $778.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77 and a beta of 0.66.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. Carlyle Secured Lending had a return on equity of 8.99% and a net margin of 19.52%.The business had revenue of $64.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $65.78 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carlyle Secured Lending Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.5%. Carlyle Secured Lending’s payout ratio is presently 225.35%.

Insider Transactions at Carlyle Secured Lending

In other Carlyle Secured Lending news, Director John G. Nestor sold 4,401 shares of Carlyle Secured Lending stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.29, for a total value of $49,687.29. Following the sale, the director owned 5,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,275.64. The trade was a 44.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Carlyle Secured Lending

Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc (NASDAQ: CGBD) is a closed-end, non-diversified business development company that provides customized debt financing solutions to middle-market companies. Chartered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the company invests primarily in floating-rate senior secured loans, including first-lien, unitranche and one-stop structures. Its objective is to generate current income and capital appreciation through disciplined credit selection and active portfolio management.

The firm focuses on U.S.