Griffin Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,864 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group makes up 1.4% of Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $11,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.5% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $411,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,582 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth $5,529,000. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 38,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $21,934,000 after buying an additional 2,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 213,605 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $122,453,000 after acquiring an additional 49,710 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GS. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Bank of America increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.06.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $632.13 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $591.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $536.52. The stock has a market cap of $198.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.38. 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 Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $374.24 and a 52-week high of $645.54.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.48 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 46.81 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total value of $1,275,338.34. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson purchased 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $619.02 per share, for a total transaction of $1,485,648.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,485,648. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,017 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,538 over the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.