The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $54.74 and last traded at $54.35, with a volume of 71232 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CG. StockNews.com lowered shares of The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer lifted 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. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.33.

The Carlyle Group Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $48.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 185.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. The Carlyle Group’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Carlyle Group Inc. will post 3.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio is 482.76%.

Insider Transactions at The Carlyle Group

In related news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. sold 92,905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.27, for a total transaction of $210,894.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,155,461 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,162,896.47. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel A. D’aniello sold 495,542 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total transaction of $25,535,279.26. Following the transaction, the director now owns 32,504,102 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,674,936,376.06. The trade was a 1.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,171,556 shares of company stock valued at $29,222,475 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 27.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Carlyle Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in The Carlyle Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 41,742 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Tobam increased 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 acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its position in The Carlyle Group by 14.7% during the first quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 2,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in The Carlyle Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 61,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,484,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

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.