William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $421.57 Million Stock Position in Carlyle Group Inc. $CG

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management cut its Carlyle Group stake by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, but still held 7.13 million shares worth about $421.6 million, making CG its 10th-largest position.
• Insider selling included director David M. Rubenstein selling 500,000 shares for about $23.34 million, reducing his ownership by 1.79%.
• Analysts remain cautious overall, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $62, while Carlyle recently reported earnings and revenue below expectations and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per share.

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG - Free Report) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,131,902 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 1,617,073 shares during the period. Carlyle Group accounts for approximately 1.2% of William Blair Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 1.98% of Carlyle Group worth $421,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CG. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Carlyle Group by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,942,135 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $623,372,000 after buying an additional 1,720,483 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Carlyle Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,612,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Carlyle Group by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,368,246 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,558,627,000 after purchasing an additional 934,237 shares during the last quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. bought a new position in Carlyle Group in the 4th quarter worth about $50,459,000. Finally, Moore Capital Management LP bought a new position in Carlyle Group in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,014,000. Institutional investors own 55.88% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David M. Rubenstein sold 500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total transaction of $23,340,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 27,399,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,279,015,381.92. This represents a 1.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 26.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CG. Evercore set a $56.00 target price on shares of Carlyle Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Carlyle Group from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Carlyle Group from $81.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Carlyle Group from $81.00 to $69.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Carlyle Group from $71.00 to $66.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.00.

Carlyle Group Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:CG opened at $45.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.29 and a 200-day moving average of $53.84. The firm has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.89. Carlyle Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.19 and a twelve month high of $69.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.92.

Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $750.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 20.95% and a net margin of 13.46%.The company's revenue was down 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Carlyle Group Inc. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Carlyle Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 95.89%.

Carlyle Group Company Profile

The Carlyle Group NASDAQ: CG is a global alternative asset manager that invests across a range of strategies including private equity, real assets (such as real estate and infrastructure), global credit, and investment solutions. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Washington, DC, Carlyle raises and manages investment funds that acquire, operate and exit companies and assets on behalf of institutional and private investors. The firm is publicly traded on the Nasdaq exchange and operates as an asset manager and investment advisor rather than as an operating company.

Carlyle's core activities include sourcing and executing private equity buyouts and growth investments, originating and managing credit and financing solutions, and acquiring and operating real asset portfolios.

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