The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) Shares Sold by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG - Free Report) by 31.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 231,598 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 106,577 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.06% of The Carlyle Group worth $11,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 67,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,395,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 80,820 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,081,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 17,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $879,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 46,607 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,353,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc boosted its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc now owns 17,990 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $908,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. 55.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CG shares. TD Cowen raised The Carlyle Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $56.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $55.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen raised The Carlyle Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, The Carlyle Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $52.33.

The Carlyle Group Price Performance

The Carlyle Group stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $47.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,457,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,631,932. The Carlyle Group Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $33.02 and a fifty-two week high of $57.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 2.32. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $40.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.13 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.85.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.17. The Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 24.02% and a net margin of 18.81%. The company had revenue of $973.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $972.27 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The Carlyle Group's quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Carlyle Group Inc. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. The Carlyle Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.46%.

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.