Olstein Capital Management L.P. Sells 1,700 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 18.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,500 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the period. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $4,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Branch Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.0% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 63 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Country Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson purchased 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $619.02 per share, for a total transaction of $1,485,648.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,485,648. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,017 shares of company stock worth $19,655,538. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $636.80 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $374.24 and a twelve month high of $645.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $591.21 and a 200 day moving average of $535.67. The firm has a market cap of $199.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

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 (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 46.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.