Verity & Verity LLC Invests $773,000 in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Verity & Verity LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,250 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $773,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.0% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 1,003 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.1% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 212,517 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $62,278,000 after purchasing an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners LTD. increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 66.6% in the third quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 2,186 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $641,000 after purchasing an additional 874 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.3% in the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,943 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 22.3% in the third quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 1,624 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.09% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 3,749 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.58, for a total value of $39,664.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $356.00 to $332.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $441.00 to $463.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Odeon Capital Group raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $370.14 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $384.00 to $425.00 in a report on Thursday, March 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $410.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $399.24.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $303.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $355.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $346.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.10, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.42. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $277.84 and a one year high of $389.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 17th. The investment management company reported $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by ($1.93). The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 16.39% and a return on equity of 10.55%. The business had revenue of $10.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.81 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 33.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 2nd will be paid a $2.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 1st. This represents a $10.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.27%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Profile

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The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc engages in global investment banking, securities, and investment management, which provides financial services. It operates through the following business segments: Investment Banking, Global Markets, Asset Management, and Consumer & Wealth Management. The Investment Banking segment serves public and private sector clients around the world and provides financial advisory services, helping companies raise capital to strengthen and grow their businesses and provide financing to corporate clients.