Wells Fargo & Company Cuts The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Price Target to $54.00

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) had its price objective lowered by Wells Fargo & Company from $56.00 to $54.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CG. StockNews.com lowered The Carlyle Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, December 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $43.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of The Carlyle Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, The Carlyle Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.93.

The Carlyle Group Stock Performance

Shares of CG opened at $51.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.52 billion, a PE ratio of 178.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.70. The Carlyle Group has a one year low of $36.65 and a one year high of $57.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 2.32. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $52.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.31.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.08). The Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 24.91% and a net margin of 2.21%. As a group, analysts expect that The Carlyle Group will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.36%.

Institutional Trading of The Carlyle Group

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Carlyle Group during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. National Pension Service bought a new stake in shares of The Carlyle Group during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 149.3% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 253.1% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of The Carlyle Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 55.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.