Securian Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stake in The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 397 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in The Carlyle Group were worth $805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in The Carlyle Group by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,919,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,651,000 after purchasing an additional 777,304 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its stake in The Carlyle Group by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 302,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,537 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC bought a new stake in The Carlyle Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,671,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in The Carlyle Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,406,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,999,000 after purchasing an additional 14,024 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in The Carlyle Group by 443.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 157,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 128,644 shares in the last quarter. 55.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

The Carlyle Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CG opened at $42.36 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.65 and a 1-year high of $57.50. The company has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.73. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.10.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last issued its quarterly 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%. Research analysts expect that The Carlyle Group Inc. will post 4.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of The Carlyle Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.93.

The Carlyle Group 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.