Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Reduces Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 76.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,632 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 28,551 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $3,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,693,331 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,842,192,000 after purchasing an additional 412,383 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,139,767 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,339,505,000 after buying an additional 41,488 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,339,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,080,676,000 after acquiring an additional 104,424 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,792,239 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $903,485,000 after purchasing an additional 159,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,848,113 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $597,994,000 after purchasing an additional 19,920 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $449.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Edward Jones initiated coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $349.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $434.93.

Insider Activity

In related news, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total transaction of $4,550,956.00. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 18,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,190,901.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total value of $4,550,956.00. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 18,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,190,901.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total value of $5,001,372.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,947.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:GS traded down $2.99 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $420.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,966,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,386,643. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $398.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $368.96. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.36 and a 1-year high of $425.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a market cap of $136.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.43.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.54 by $3.04. The company had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 8.17%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.79 EPS. Analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.39 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.75 per share. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

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.