Morgan Stanley Cuts The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) Price Target to $44.00

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $57.00 to $44.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of The Carlyle Group from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $54.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of The Carlyle Group from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Carlyle Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.71.

The Carlyle Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CG opened at $35.25 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 2.32. The Carlyle Group has a 12 month low of $33.02 and a 12 month high of $57.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $44.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.03.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.08). The Carlyle Group had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 24.02%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Carlyle Group will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Carlyle Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio is 50.36%.

Institutional Trading of The Carlyle Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CG. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in The Carlyle Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,161,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,169,420,000 after acquiring an additional 180,757 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in The Carlyle Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 19,778,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $998,609,000 after buying an additional 50,784 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Carlyle Group by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 13,249,941 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $668,990,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773,465 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of The Carlyle Group by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,102,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,687,000 after acquiring an additional 467,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in The Carlyle Group by 201.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 6,351,432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $320,684,000 after purchasing an additional 4,244,131 shares during the last quarter. 55.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.