Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Rating Lowered to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Evercore set a $51.00 price target on Carlyle Group in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Carlyle Group from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Carlyle Group in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Carlyle Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Carlyle Group in a report on Friday, October 2nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.60.

Carlyle Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CG opened at $38.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.69 billion, a PE ratio of 40.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.88. Carlyle Group has a 12 month low of $37.08 and a 12 month high of $67.30. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.74.

Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $923.50 million. Carlyle Group had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 28.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Carlyle Group will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Rubenstein sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.74, for a total transaction of $17,096,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,899,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,149,690,784.56. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 25.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Carlyle Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Carlyle Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,346,848,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Carlyle Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $249,077,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Carlyle Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $162,984,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Carlyle Group by 419.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,406,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $143,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,749,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Carlyle Group by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,047,650 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,086,000 after acquiring an additional 23,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.