The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Sold by Providence First Trust Co

Providence First Trust Co lessened its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 24.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,802 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 909 shares during the period. Providence First Trust Co’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,713,325,000 after buying an additional 7,475,140 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,155,336 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,524,669,000 after acquiring an additional 112,696 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,435,144,000 after acquiring an additional 521,054 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% during the third 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 period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $622.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $381.42 and a 12 month high of $672.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $616.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $562.46.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The business had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, HSBC lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kevin R. Johnson purchased 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $619.02 per share, with a total value of $1,485,648.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,485,648. This represents a ? increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,255,506.25. This represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.