Short Interest in The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) Declines By 11.1%

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,760,000 shares, a decrease of 11.1% from the November 30th total of 10,980,000 shares. Currently, 4.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CG has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, December 8th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of The Carlyle Group in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective 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. Barclays upped their target price on The Carlyle Group from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on The Carlyle Group from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.00.

The Carlyle Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Carlyle Group stock traded down $0.35 during trading on Monday, hitting $50.52. 972,675 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,332,851. The Carlyle Group has a 52-week low of $36.65 and a 52-week 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 stock has a market capitalization of $18.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 174.21, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.71.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $895.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $908.17 million. The Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 24.91% and a net margin of 2.21%. The Carlyle Group’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Carlyle Group will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The Carlyle Group’s payout ratio is 482.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Daniel A. D’aniello sold 495,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total transaction of $25,535,279.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,504,102 shares in the company, valued at $1,674,936,376.06. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 924,466 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.14, for a total value of $1,978,357.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,643,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,796,514.34. The trade was a 20.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,171,556 shares of company stock valued at $29,222,475 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 27.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ariel Investments LLC raised its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 1.1% during the 2nd 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 raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $174,469,000 after acquiring an additional 1,707,520 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,266,595 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,999,000 after acquiring an additional 137,541 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in The Carlyle Group by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,919,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,651,000 after purchasing an additional 777,304 shares during the last quarter. 55.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.