Investors Buy Large Volume of The Carlyle Group Call Options (NASDAQ:CG)

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 6,858 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 395% compared to the average volume of 1,385 call options.

The Carlyle Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of CG stock opened at $54.27 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.73. The Carlyle Group has a 1-year low of $36.65 and a 1-year high of $55.11. The company has a market cap of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 187.14, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 2.32.

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

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 482.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CG has been the subject of several research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, December 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Carlyle Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Carlyle Group

In other news, Director Daniel A. D’aniello sold 495,542 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total value of $25,535,279.26. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 32,504,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,674,936,376.06. This trade represents a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 27.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Carlyle Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CG. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in The Carlyle Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Tobam lifted its position in 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 acquired a new position in The Carlyle Group during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group by 1,600.0% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 147.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,909 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the period. 55.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.