Welch & Forbes LLC Acquires 130 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Welch & Forbes LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,418 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $812,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS opened at $559.55 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $381.42 and a 12-month high of $672.19. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $616.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $565.29. The company has a market capitalization of $174.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, 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 data 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 return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. HSBC cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.69.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $634.69, for a total value of $4,758,905.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,086,042.41. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. This 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 valued at $12,630,683 over the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.