The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Sold by Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA

Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA lessened its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 16.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,490 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 295 shares during the period. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $853,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.0% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 63 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Country Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:GS opened at $640.15 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $375.20 and a 1-year high of $650.00. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $596.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $541.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its 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 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 analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.48 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total value of $4,001,460.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 117,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,015,903.53. The trade was a 5.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,865 shares of company stock valued at $25,286,862 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GS shares. 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. JMP Securities upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, HSBC lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.06.

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.