Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Stock Bumped Up to Hold by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Carlyle Group from “sell” to “hold.” Overall analyst sentiment is also “Hold,” with eight Buy, eight Hold and one Sell rating, and an average price target of $55.
• Carlyle shares opened at $36.38, near their 52-week low of $35.41 and below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The stock has declined from a 52-week high of $67.30.
• The company exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.07 in adjusted EPS versus the $0.91 consensus and $1.11 billion in revenue, though revenue fell 28.6% year over year. Institutional investors own 55.88% of the stock, while director David Rubenstein recently sold 400,000 shares.

Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on CG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Carlyle Group from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on shares of Carlyle Group from $70.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Carlyle Group in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $52.00 target price on shares of Carlyle Group in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Carlyle Group from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.00.

Carlyle Group Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Carlyle Group stock opened at $36.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.40. Carlyle Group has a 52-week low of $35.41 and a 52-week high of $67.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.16. Carlyle Group had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $923.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 28.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Carlyle Group will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Carlyle Group news, Director David Rubenstein sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.74, for a total transaction of $17,096,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,899,644 shares in the company, valued at $1,149,690,784.56. This represents a 1.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 25.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Carlyle Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Carlyle Group during the second quarter worth approximately $1,346,848,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Carlyle Group during the second quarter worth $249,077,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Carlyle Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $162,984,000. Amundi raised its stake in Carlyle Group by 419.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,406,001 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $143,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,749,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Carlyle Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,047,650 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $99,086,000 after buying an additional 23,065 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.88% of the company's stock.

About Carlyle Group

The Carlyle Group Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that invests across private equity, credit and investment solutions. The company manages funds and investment vehicles for institutional investors, private wealth clients and other investors, with strategies focused on private markets and long-term value creation.

Carlyle's investment activities include corporate buyouts, growth capital, middle-market lending, structured credit, real assets and secondaries. Through its investment solutions business, the firm also provides access to private-market strategies and manages portfolios of private equity interests and other alternative investments.

Founded in 1987 by William E.

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