Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Acquires Shares of 157 The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 157 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $78,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.9% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,582 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,268,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 62.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at $1,388,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 34.2% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 8,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,359,435.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS stock opened at $517.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $166.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $498.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $470.64. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.36 and a 12-month high of $540.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.47 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seaport Res Ptn cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $524.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Profile

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.