Bank of America Issues Pessimistic Forecast for The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Stock Price

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) had its price target trimmed by Bank of America from $47.00 to $46.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CG. Barclays decreased their target price on 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of 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 assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, The Carlyle Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.00.

The Carlyle Group Stock Down 7.3 %

CG stock opened at $35.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.61. 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 Carlyle Group has a twelve month low of $33.02 and a twelve month high of $57.50.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 24.02% and a net margin of 18.81%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Carlyle Group will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 50.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Carlyle Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,161,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,169,420,000 after acquiring an additional 180,757 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,778,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $998,609,000 after purchasing an additional 50,784 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased 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 buying an additional 467,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 201.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,351,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $320,684,000 after acquiring an additional 4,244,131 shares during the last quarter. 55.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.