Rakuten Securities Inc. Boosts Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 65.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,235 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,065 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group accounts for about 1.2% of Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GS. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS stock opened at $531.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $165.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $615.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $566.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $383.41 and a 12-month high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total transaction of $3,313,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at $2,255,506.25. The trade was a 59.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.74, for a total value of $2,317,733.60. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 4,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,898,440.48. This represents a 44.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on GS shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.69.

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.