The Carlyle Group Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:CG)

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 6,858 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 395% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,385 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on The Carlyle Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded The Carlyle Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Daniel A. D’aniello sold 495,542 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total transaction of $25,535,279.26. Following the sale, the director now owns 32,504,102 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,674,936,376.06. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 27.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Carlyle Group

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 253.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in The Carlyle Group during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Tobam grew its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 32.8% during the third quarter. Tobam now owns 890 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group in the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in The Carlyle Group by 1,600.0% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 1,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. 55.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Carlyle Group Stock Up 1.8 %

CG stock opened at $55.24 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $52.02 and its 200 day moving average is $46.89. The firm has a market cap of $19.76 billion, a PE ratio of 190.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.69. The Carlyle Group has a one year low of $36.65 and a one year high of $55.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.32.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.08. The Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 24.91% and a net margin of 2.21%. The firm had revenue of $895.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $908.17 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.87 EPS. The Carlyle Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that The Carlyle Group will post 3.8 EPS for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 482.76%.

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.