Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $5.95 Million Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 366.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,394 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,166 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $5,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,155,336 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,524,669,000 after purchasing an additional 112,696 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,936,853 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,109,081,000 after purchasing an additional 22,794 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,707,632 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $845,466,000 after purchasing an additional 18,541 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,660,088 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $898,428,000 after purchasing an additional 62,246 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS opened at $565.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $610.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $568.09. 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 12-month low of $387.12 and a 12-month high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The firm 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 was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.48 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.59%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,047,349.55. The trade was a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total value of $965,115.15. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. HSBC downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $594.27.

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.