Groupama Asset Managment Reduces Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Groupama Asset Managment lowered its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 56.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,449 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 7,136 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $3,125,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $206,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,703,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 493.0% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,585 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,757,000 after purchasing an additional 6,306 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.6% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 1,751 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,255,506.25. This trade represents a 59.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson acquired 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $619.02 per share, with a total value of $1,485,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,485,648. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $605.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $720.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $591.87.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS opened at $548.52 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $604.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $573.37. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $387.12 and a 12-month high of $672.19. The firm has a market cap of $171.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. 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 Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.59%.

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.