National Pension Service Cuts Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

National Pension Service decreased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 601,868 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 60,820 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $344,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 224,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $129,144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,541 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 38,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $21,934,000 after buying an additional 2,863 shares during the last quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth about $703,000. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $356,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 213,605 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $122,453,000 after buying an additional 49,710 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 1.8 %

GS opened at $614.86 on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $381.42 and a 1-year high of $672.19. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $613.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $560.79. 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 company has a market capitalization of $191.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.16, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 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 company had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.48 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total value of $1,275,338.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,047,349.55. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson purchased 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $619.02 per share, for a total transaction of $1,485,648.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,485,648. This trade 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 31,475 shares of company stock worth $19,692,543. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GS. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on 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. HSBC lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.56.

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.