Principal Securities Inc. Buys 495 Shares of The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) by 54.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in The Carlyle Group were worth $71,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 149.3% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 405 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in The Carlyle Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 8,090.9% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

The Carlyle Group Stock Performance

CG opened at $49.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 2.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.79. The Carlyle Group Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.65 and a 1 year high of $57.50. The stock has a market cap of $17.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.70.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.08). The Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 24.02% and a net margin of 18.81%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Carlyle Group Inc. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of The Carlyle Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $78.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.93.

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.