Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG)

The Carlyle Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 8,572 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 322% compared to the average volume of 2,031 put options.

The Carlyle Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CG opened at $44.08 on Friday. The Carlyle Group has a 52 week low of $25.20 and a 52 week high of $48.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.01. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a market cap of $15.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.79.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ:CG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $896.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $860.68 million. The Carlyle Group had a positive return on equity of 19.74% and a negative net margin of 20.53%. The firm’s revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Carlyle Group will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Carlyle Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The Carlyle Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -82.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Carlyle Group

In other The Carlyle Group news, major shareholder Carlyle Group Inc. bought 190,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.95 per share, for a total transaction of $2,460,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,066,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,807,147.55. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 27.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Carlyle Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,876,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,012,212,000 after buying an additional 1,756,189 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,697,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $736,980,000 after buying an additional 2,514,895 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Carlyle Group by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,573,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $576,900,000 after buying an additional 5,223,114 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in The Carlyle Group by 65.9% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 8,877,428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $267,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,524,794 shares during the period. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC increased its stake in The Carlyle Group by 16.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 6,364,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $191,954,000 after purchasing an additional 918,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 55.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet cut The Carlyle Group from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on The Carlyle Group from $41.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on The Carlyle Group from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on The Carlyle Group in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Carlyle Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.07.

The 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.