Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Cuts Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,350 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,051 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $4,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter valued at $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% in the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total value of $3,826,245.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,614 shares in the company, valued at $34,358,685.04. The trade was a 10.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,359,435.50. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $593.51 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $518.10 and a 200 day moving average of $488.35. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $334.55 and a 52-week high of $607.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $535.75.

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.