Chase Investment Counsel Corp Reduces Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Chase Investment Counsel Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,411 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 179 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group accounts for 2.1% of Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Chase Investment Counsel Corp’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $6,534,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GS. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth about $38,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. HSBC lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.69.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total value of $965,115.15. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 8,192 shares in the company, valued at $5,117,296.64. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $634.69, for a total value of $4,758,905.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,086,042.41. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 in the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS opened at $622.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $194.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $616.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $562.46. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $381.42 and a fifty-two week high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The business had revenue of $13.87 billion during 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 was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.48 EPS. As a group, equities 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 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 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.59%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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.