South Dakota Investment Council Cuts Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 37.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,646 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 5,668 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $3,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GS. Cambridge Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 82.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 91 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 88.0% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 94 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, CNB Bank boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 55.7% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 165 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GS. Citigroup upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Argus raised The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley raised The Goldman Sachs Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $333.00 to $449.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $445.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $434.93.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE GS opened at $423.04 on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.36 and a 1-year high of $425.35. The company has a market capitalization of $137.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $398.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $368.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.79 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $2.75 dividend. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total value of $4,550,956.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 18,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,190,901.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total transaction of $4,550,956.00. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 18,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,190,901.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total value of $5,001,372.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,947.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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.