The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Stake Boosted by Focus Financial Network Inc.

Focus Financial Network Inc. increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,203 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GS. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 486 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the fourth 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. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $675,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE:GS opened at $647.32 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $600.97 and its 200-day moving average is $548.38. The company has a market cap of $200.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. 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 Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $375.20 and a 52-week high of $663.87.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

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 paid 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 dividend yield of 1.85%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.08, for a total value of $3,060,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 608,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,404,774. The trade was a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total value of $4,001,460.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 117,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,015,903.53. This represents a 5.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,475 shares of company stock valued at $19,692,543 over the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Hsbc Global Res cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Eight investment 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 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.