Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Decreases Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,900 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $9,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,470 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,987,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,146 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 997 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $624,000. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Finally, Axecap Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Axecap Investments LLC now owns 6,297 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,606,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.5 %

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $647.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $200.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.96, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $375.20 and a fifty-two week high of $663.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $600.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $548.38. 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 Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share 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 quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.48 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 29.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,255,506.25. This trade represents a 59.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 4,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,898,440.48. This represents a 44.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,475 shares of company stock valued at $19,692,543 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on GS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.06.

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.