Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 6,839 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 366,827 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,839 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $200,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,584,202 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,761,576,000 after purchasing an additional 161,500 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,172,423,000 after buying an additional 3,970,467 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,053,614,000 after buying an additional 687,711 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,292,679 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,885,454,000 after buying an additional 428,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,766,238,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Director John B. Hess bought 3,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $511.68 per share, with a total value of $1,997,598.72. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 3,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,598.72. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on GS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $614.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $630.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Daiwa America cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $603.73.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $725.05 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $613.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $590.57. The stock has a market cap of $222.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $437.37 and a 12 month high of $726.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.57 by $1.55. The firm had revenue of $15.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.99 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 11.86%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $11.58 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 27.85%.

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.