Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,091,202 The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,091,202 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $624,844,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Director Kevin R. Johnson acquired 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $619.02 per share, with a total value of $1,485,648.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,485,648. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.74, for a total transaction of $2,317,733.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 4,552 shares in the company, valued at $2,898,440.48. This represents a 44.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 2.2 %

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $594.05 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $617.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $564.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $381.42 and a one year high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio 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.