Western Financial Corp CA Grows Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Western Financial Corp CA lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,260 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group accounts for approximately 1.0% of Western Financial Corp CA’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Western Financial Corp CA’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,713,325,000 after buying an additional 7,475,140 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,042,640 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,991,772,000 after acquiring an additional 161,133 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,707,632 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $845,466,000 after purchasing an additional 18,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,660,088 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $898,428,000 after purchasing an additional 62,246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

NYSE GS opened at $640.15 on Friday. 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 $375.20 and a 12 month high of $650.00. The stock has a market cap of $198.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $596.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $541.17.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.1 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total transaction of $3,313,590.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,255,506.25. This trade represents a 59.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 40,865 shares of company stock worth $25,286,862 in the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GS shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.06.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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.