LPL Financial LLC Buys 43,865 Shares of The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG)

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) by 36.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 165,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,865 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in The Carlyle Group were worth $8,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 67,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,395,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 80,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,081,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 46,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,353,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. DMC Group LLC increased its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. DMC Group LLC now owns 6,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in The Carlyle Group by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

The Carlyle Group Stock Down 7.3 %

CG stock opened at $35.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.56. The Carlyle Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.02 and a 1-year high of $57.50.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts expect that The Carlyle Group Inc. will post 4.48 EPS for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio is 50.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on CG shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wolfe Research raised The Carlyle Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on The Carlyle Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Carlyle Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

The Carlyle Group Company 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.