Westpac Banking Corp Has $12.74 Million Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Westpac Banking Corp increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 27.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,814 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group comprises 0.8% of Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $12,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 163 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 486 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 660 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Genesee Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total value of $3,313,590.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,255,506.25. The trade was a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.74, for a total transaction of $2,317,733.60. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 4,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,898,440.48. This trade represents a 44.43 % decrease in their position. 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 90 days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup cut their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, January 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $591.87.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS stock opened at $564.24 on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $387.12 and a 52 week high of $672.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $176.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $603.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $573.30.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced 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 business had revenue of $13.87 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.48 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.59%.

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.