The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 21.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,110,215 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 586,294 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,208,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 224,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $129,144,000 after acquiring an additional 5,541 shares in the last quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 15,506 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $8,879,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,743 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 38,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $21,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $356,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GS shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $660.00 to $594.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $614.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $589.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $469.57 on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $387.12 and a twelve month high of $672.19. The company has a market capitalization of $146.52 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $597.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $573.99.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly 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 Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.48 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,047,349.55. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson bought 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $619.02 per share, with a total value of $1,485,648.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,485,648. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.