Carlyle Group Inc. $CG Shares Sold by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,131,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,617,073 shares during the period. Carlyle Group makes up approximately 1.2% of William Blair Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Carlyle Group were worth $421,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its stake in Carlyle Group by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 15,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $943,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Carlyle Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $820,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Carlyle Group by 721.6% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 7,485 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 6,574 shares during the period. Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Carlyle Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,459,000. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in shares of Carlyle Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $131,000. 55.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Carlyle Group news, Director David M. Rubenstein sold 500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $23,340,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,399,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,279,015,381.92. This represents a 1.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 26.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CG shares. Cfra lowered shares of Carlyle Group to a “sell” rating and set a $45.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Carlyle Group from $53.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Carlyle Group from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Carlyle Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Evercore set a $56.00 price target on shares of Carlyle Group in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.00.

Carlyle Group Stock Up 0.7%

Carlyle Group stock opened at $45.43 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a PE ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a current ratio of 2.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $48.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.84. Carlyle Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.19 and a twelve month high of $69.85.

Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $750.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Carlyle Group had a net margin of 13.46% and a return on equity of 20.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Carlyle Group Inc. will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.89%.

About Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global alternative asset manager that invests across a range of strategies including private equity, real assets (such as real estate and infrastructure), global credit, and investment solutions. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Washington, DC, Carlyle raises and manages investment funds that acquire, operate and exit companies and assets on behalf of institutional and private investors. The firm is publicly traded on the Nasdaq exchange and operates as an asset manager and investment advisor rather than as an operating company.

Carlyle’s core activities include sourcing and executing private equity buyouts and growth investments, originating and managing credit and financing solutions, and acquiring and operating real asset portfolios.