Wells Fargo & Company Cuts The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Price Target to $48.00

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) had its price target lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $48.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research raised shares of The Carlyle Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com lowered The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of The Carlyle Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on The Carlyle Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.53.

The Carlyle Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CG opened at $44.13 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $15.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.05 and its 200-day moving average is $49.23. The Carlyle Group has a 1-year low of $36.65 and a 1-year high of $57.50.

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 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%. Equities research analysts predict that The Carlyle Group will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Carlyle Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 201.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,351,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $320,684,000 after acquiring an additional 4,244,131 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in The Carlyle Group by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 13,249,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $668,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,773,465 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in The Carlyle Group by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,051,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,469,000 after buying an additional 1,707,520 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in The Carlyle Group in the fourth quarter worth $83,784,000. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in The Carlyle Group by 98.8% during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 2,455,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220,827 shares during the last quarter. 55.88% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.