M&T Bank Corp Cuts Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

M&T Bank Corp lessened its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,873 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 398 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $15,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GS. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter worth $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on GS shares. HSBC cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 2.2 %

GS opened at $594.05 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market cap of $185.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $381.42 and a 52 week high of $672.19. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $617.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $564.89.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The business had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors 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 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.74, for a total transaction of $2,317,733.60. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 4,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,898,440.48. This represents a 44.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $4,047,349.55. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.