West Family Investments Inc. Lowers Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

West Family Investments Inc. reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 25.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 529 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 183 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,713,325,000 after purchasing an additional 7,475,140 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $624,844,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 14,007.0% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,059,716 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $606,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052,204 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,435,144,000 after buying an additional 521,054 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,400.8% in the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 419,095 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $239,982,000 after buying an additional 391,170 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE:GS opened at $559.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $616.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $565.29. 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 Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $381.42 and a 12-month high of $672.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The business had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The business’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.48 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,047,349.55. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total value of $965,115.15. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares in the company, valued at $5,117,296.64. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.