The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Sold by Argent Advisors Inc.

Argent Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,606 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 211 shares during the period. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GS. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,155,336 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,524,669,000 after purchasing an additional 112,696 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,936,853 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,109,081,000 after purchasing an additional 22,794 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,707,632 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $845,466,000 after purchasing an additional 18,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,660,088 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $898,428,000 after purchasing an additional 62,246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS stock opened at $551.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $172.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $612.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $567.52. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $383.41 and a 52 week high of $672.19.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 29.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total value of $3,313,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,255,506.25. The trade was a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson bought 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $619.02 per share, with a total value of $1,485,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,485,648. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $594.27.

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.