Blue Trust Inc. Has $2.23 Million Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,893 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 887 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $632.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $198.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.59, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.38. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $374.24 and a 12 month high of $645.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $591.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $536.52. 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, beating the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 46.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.90%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insider Activity

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,046,795.39. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 9,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,086,042.41. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,017 shares of company stock worth $19,655,538 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.