The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Sold by NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ

NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ reduced its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 569 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 20 shares during the period. NorthStar Asset Management LLC NJ’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $326,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GS. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Country Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of GS opened at $637.71 on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $374.24 and a 1-year high of $645.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $592.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $537.59. The stock has a market cap of $200.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 46.81 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.59%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total transaction of $965,115.15. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $634.69, for a total value of $4,758,905.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,589 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold a total of 35,657 shares of company stock worth $21,973,272 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. HSBC cut shares of 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. Oppenheimer reduced 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.