Stephens Inc. AR Boosts Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,017 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,469 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $33,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth about $38,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $655.76 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $375.20 and a twelve month high of $663.87. The company has a market capitalization of $203.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $600.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $546.46.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The business had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,047,349.55. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,475 shares of company stock worth $19,692,543. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on GS. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. HSBC downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.