Handelsbanken Fonder AB Trims Stake in The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its position in shares of The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 57,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,500 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in The Carlyle Group were worth $2,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CG. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 7.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,787 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in The Carlyle Group by 147.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in The Carlyle Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $233,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 40.0% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 19,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 5,694 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group by 14.3% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 73,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,165,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

The Carlyle Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CG opened at $49.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $52.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.72. The company has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.70. The Carlyle Group Inc. 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 1.42.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.08). The Carlyle Group had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 24.02%. As a group, research analysts expect that The Carlyle Group Inc. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CG shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com downgraded The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded The Carlyle Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.93.

About The Carlyle Group

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.