Carlyle Group Inc. $CG Shares Bought by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Carlyle Group by 32.8%, now owning shares valued at approximately $2.48 million.
• Other investors such as Frontier Capital Management and Citigroup also significantly increased their stakes, contributing to a total of 55.88% of Carlyle Group stock owned by institutional investors.
• Carlyle Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.2% based on its current payout ratio of 40.94%.

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG - Free Report) by 32.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,973 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 14,058 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Carlyle Group were worth $2,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CG. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new position in shares of Carlyle Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $215,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Carlyle Group by 87.4% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,278 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 4,327 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Carlyle Group by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 41,530 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,097,000 after purchasing an additional 7,649 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Carlyle Group by 52.7% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 26,097 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,318,000 after buying an additional 9,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Carlyle Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 182,419 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,210,000 after buying an additional 1,267 shares during the last quarter. 55.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Carlyle Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CG traded down $0.30 during trading on Thursday, reaching $64.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,388,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,885,117. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 2.24 and a current ratio of 2.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $59.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.05. The stock has a market cap of $23.30 billion, a PE ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.90. Carlyle Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $33.02 and a 1-year high of $65.97.

Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Carlyle Group's payout ratio is currently 40.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Carlyle Group in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. TD Cowen upgraded Carlyle Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $56.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Carlyle Group from $45.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Carlyle Group from $49.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Cowen upgraded Carlyle Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Jeffrey W. Ferguson sold 202,606 shares of Carlyle Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total value of $13,013,383.38. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 753,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,381,568.65. The trade was a 21.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 26.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.