Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Raises Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,515 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $3,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 486 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 660 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Pointe Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Genesee Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $586.16 on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $387.12 and a 12-month high of $672.19. 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 company has a market capitalization of $182.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $611.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $570.61.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 29.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kevin R. Johnson bought 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $619.02 per share, for a total transaction of $1,485,648.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,485,648. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.74, for a total value of $2,317,733.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now owns 4,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,898,440.48. This trade represents a 44.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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. lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $605.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered 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, February 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $593.27.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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.