Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Stock Rated Equal Weight in New Coverage at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $43.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on CG. Wall Street Zen raised Carlyle Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Carlyle Group from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price on shares of Carlyle Group in a report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Carlyle Group from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Carlyle Group from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $57.87.

Carlyle Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CG opened at $39.82 on Friday. Carlyle Group has a 12-month low of $38.72 and a 12-month high of $67.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.43 and a 200-day moving average of $46.06. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market cap of $14.19 billion, a PE ratio of 41.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.88.

Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.16. Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 10.08%.The business had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $923.50 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Carlyle Group will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 145.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Rubenstein sold 400,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.74, for a total transaction of $17,096,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 26,899,644 shares in the company, valued at $1,149,690,784.56. This trade represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 25.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Carlyle Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,346,848,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Carlyle Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $249,077,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Carlyle Group during the second quarter worth $162,984,000. Amundi raised its position in Carlyle Group by 419.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,406,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $143,427,000 after buying an additional 2,749,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Carlyle Group during the 2nd quarter worth $84,540,000. Institutional investors own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

About Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that invests across private equity, credit and investment solutions. The company manages funds and investment vehicles for institutional investors, private wealth clients and other investors, with strategies focused on private markets and long-term value creation.

Carlyle’s investment activities include corporate buyouts, growth capital, middle-market lending, structured credit, real assets and secondaries. Through its investment solutions business, the firm also provides access to private-market strategies and manages portfolios of private equity interests and other alternative investments.

Founded in 1987 by William E.