The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,920,000 shares, a decline of 10.0% from the July 15th total of 18,800,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.4 days. Approximately 8.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at The Carlyle Group

In other news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 127,981 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.19, for a total value of $4,631,632.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,123,705 shares in the company, valued at approximately $438,756,883.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 2,261,559 shares of company stock worth $82,700,460 over the last three months. 27.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Carlyle Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in The Carlyle Group by 148.5% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 30,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 18,304 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in The Carlyle Group by 5.1% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 54,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,190,000 after buying an additional 2,633 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 10.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $742,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC boosted its position in The Carlyle Group by 1.1% during the second 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 period. 55.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Carlyle Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CG traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.00. 57,484 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,280,966. The firm has a market cap of $14.76 billion, a PE ratio of -23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 2.53. The Carlyle Group has a fifty-two week low of $27.13 and a fifty-two week high of $50.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.72.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.05). The Carlyle Group had a positive return on equity of 23.92% and a negative net margin of 23.04%. The firm had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $808.73 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. The Carlyle Group’s revenue was up 131.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Carlyle Group will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. The Carlyle Group’s payout ratio is -78.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $54.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $69.00 to $64.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. TD Cowen upped their target price on The Carlyle Group from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered The Carlyle Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.43.

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.