WealthShield Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

WealthShield Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 603 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. WealthShield Partners LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GS. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.1 %

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $626.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $612.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $559.91. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $381.42 and a twelve month high of $672.19. 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.48 EPS. As a group, equities 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.08, for a total value of $3,060,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 608,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $372,404,774. This trade represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total transaction of $3,313,590.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,255,506.25. The trade was a 59.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,475 shares of company stock worth $19,692,543 over the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GS. HSBC cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $593.56.

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.