Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Has $258,000 Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 450 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 22 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 approximately $34,000. Country Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value of $965,115.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now owns 8,192 shares in the company, valued at $5,117,296.64. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $634.69, for a total transaction of $4,758,905.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,589 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,042.41. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,017 shares of company stock worth $19,655,538 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $632.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $591.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $536.52. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $374.24 and a 12 month high of $645.54. 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 company has a market cap of $198.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 46.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.59%.

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.