Arizona State Retirement System Decreases Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,541 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 917 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $52,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GS. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 224,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $129,144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,541 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 38,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $21,934,000 after buying an additional 2,863 shares during the period. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $356,000. Park Edge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $703,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 worth $122,453,000 after acquiring an additional 49,710 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $579.88 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $617.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $564.69. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $180.95 billion, a PE ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $381.42 and a twelve month high of $672.19.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.48 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Director Kevin R. Johnson purchased 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,485,648. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total transaction of $1,275,338.34. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 over the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.