Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 815,143 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,615,876 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 815,143 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.84% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $1,497,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.74, for a total value of $2,317,733.60. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 4,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,898,440.48. The trade was a 44.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson purchased 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $619.02 per share, with a total value of $1,485,648.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,485,648. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GS. UBS Group boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $720.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $660.00 to $594.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $591.87.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of GS stock opened at $548.52 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $604.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $573.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $387.12 and a 52-week high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

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.