UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Decreases Stake in The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd decreased its holdings in The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) by 30.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,900 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in The Carlyle Group were worth $222,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,161,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,169,420,000 after purchasing an additional 180,757 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 13,249,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $668,990,000 after buying an additional 1,773,465 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,102,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,687,000 after acquiring an additional 467,767 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 72.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,364,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,673,000 after purchasing an additional 594,661 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on CG shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of The Carlyle Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer cut shares of The Carlyle Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on The Carlyle Group from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.53.

The Carlyle Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CG opened at $43.59 on Tuesday. The Carlyle Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.65 and a 12 month high of $57.50. The stock has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 2.32.

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

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. The Carlyle Group’s payout ratio is 50.36%.

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.