Erste Asset Management GmbH Boosts Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,743 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $3,309,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 224,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $129,144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,541 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 38,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $21,934,000 after acquiring an additional 2,863 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $356,000. Park Edge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $703,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 213,605 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $122,453,000 after acquiring an additional 49,710 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total value of $1,275,338.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,047,349.55. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson acquired 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $619.02 per share, with a total value of $1,485,648.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,485,648. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $594.27.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 3.3 %

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $542.31 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $383.41 and a twelve month high of $672.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $612.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $566.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.59%.

About The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in financing under securities to resale agreements.