Welch Group LLC Increases Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,868 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $9,101,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GS. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 896 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New Hampshire increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 243 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $632.25 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $596.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $541.71. 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 52 week low of $375.20 and a 52 week high of $650.00. The company has a market cap of $196.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.1 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. 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 1.90%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total transaction of $965,115.15. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 40,865 shares of company stock worth $25,286,862. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.