Prudential Financial Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 46.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 271,709 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 232,348 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $155,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 339,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $167,866,000 after buying an additional 13,730 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.8% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 23,413 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $11,592,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,268 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 476 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on GS. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. HSBC lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $594.27.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.4 %

GS stock opened at $565.00 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $610.89 and its 200 day moving average is $569.20. The firm has a market cap of $176.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $387.12 and a one year high of $672.19. 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 (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 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.48 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,086,042.41. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Profile

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.