Ariel Investments LLC Sells 177,661 Shares of The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG)

Ariel Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG - Free Report) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,910,736 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 177,661 shares during the quarter. The Carlyle Group makes up about 2.6% of Ariel Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Ariel Investments LLC owned approximately 1.37% of The Carlyle Group worth $247,943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Carlyle Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. National Pension Service bought a new position in shares of The Carlyle Group in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Carlyle Group by 253.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 565 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 8,090.9% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 901 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. 55.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CG. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on The Carlyle Group from $48.00 to $39.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer cut The Carlyle Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $55.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on The Carlyle Group from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Carlyle Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $50.88.

The Carlyle Group Price Performance

NASDAQ CG traded down $0.26 on Monday, reaching $40.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,109,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,580,518. The Carlyle Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.02 and a twelve month 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $40.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.23. The stock has a market cap of $14.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.57, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.72.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.08). The Carlyle Group had a return on equity of 24.02% and a net margin of 18.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Carlyle Group Inc. will post 4.48 EPS for the current year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. The Carlyle Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.36%.

The Carlyle Group 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.