Norges Bank Invests $1.60 Billion in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 2,799,964 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,315,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,189,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.8% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,824 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE:GS opened at $573.37 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $610.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $570.63. The company has a market cap of $178.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $387.12 and a one year high of $672.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted 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 company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on GS. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $593.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total transaction of $1,275,338.34. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,047,349.55. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson purchased 2,400 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $619.02 per share, with a total value of $1,485,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,485,648. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.