West Michigan Advisors LLC Trims Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

West Michigan Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,832 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. West Michigan Advisors LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $622.11 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $381.42 and a fifty-two week high of $672.19. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $616.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $562.46. The company has a market capitalization of $194.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. 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 Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The business had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.59%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total transaction of $3,313,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,255,506.25. This trade represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total transaction of $965,115.15. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,117,296.64. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.