Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,411,202 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 19,118 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $16,841,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $3,524,669,000 after buying an additional 112,696 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $1,435,144,000 after buying an additional 521,054 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 lifted its stake 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. lifted its stake 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $565.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $610.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $568.65. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $387.12 and a 52 week high of $672.19. The company has a market capitalization of $176.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. 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 (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $594.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total value of $3,313,590.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,255,506.25. This represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total value of $965,115.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.