Everence Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Everence Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,730 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,530 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $4,999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.0% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 63 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 608,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,404,774. This represents a 0.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,940 shares of company stock valued at $13,717,979 in the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.1 %

GS stock traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $575.65. 422,594 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,294,089. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $372.07 and a 12-month high of $612.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.89, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $576.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $519.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $570.00 to $686.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. HSBC lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $558.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group 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.