The Carlyle Group Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:CG)

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders bought 8,572 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 322% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,031 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities lifted their target price on The Carlyle Group from $52.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. TheStreet cut The Carlyle Group from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on The Carlyle Group from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on The Carlyle Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on The Carlyle Group from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Carlyle Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.07.

Insider Transactions at The Carlyle Group

In related news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. acquired 190,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.95 per share, with a total value of $2,460,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,066,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,807,147.55. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 27.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Carlyle Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CG. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group by 125.5% during the third quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in The Carlyle Group in the first quarter worth about $31,000. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in The Carlyle Group in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Carlyle Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of The Carlyle Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

The Carlyle Group Trading Up 1.0 %

The Carlyle Group stock traded up $0.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $44.10. 109,803 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,277,105. The Carlyle Group has a 52-week low of $25.20 and a 52-week high of $48.52. The company has a market capitalization of $15.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.85, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.91.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.08. The Carlyle Group had a positive return on equity of 19.74% and a negative net margin of 20.53%. The company had revenue of $896.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $860.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Carlyle Group will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -82.84%.

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.