882,006 Shares in The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 882,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $44,532,000. Norges Bank owned 0.25% of The Carlyle Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 13,249,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $668,990,000 after buying an additional 1,773,465 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Carlyle Group in the 4th quarter worth about $83,784,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 68.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,919,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $82,651,000 after purchasing an additional 777,304 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,364,231 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,673,000 after purchasing an additional 594,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,102,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $358,687,000 after purchasing an additional 467,767 shares in the last quarter. 55.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Carlyle Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CG opened at $35.89 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $47.81 and its 200-day moving average is $49.51. The firm has a market cap of $12.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.73. The Carlyle Group Inc. has a 12-month low of $33.02 and a 12-month high of $57.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.08). The Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 24.02% and a net margin of 18.81%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Carlyle Group Inc. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America cut their target price on The Carlyle Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered The Carlyle Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Carlyle Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.00.

The Carlyle Group 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.