Alliancebernstein L.P. Boosts Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,087,594 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 33,000 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,195,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,240.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,771 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,362,000 after acquiring an additional 4,415 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 35.8% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 482 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 44,067 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $21,818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,522 shares during the period. Finally, Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 41.3% in the 3rd quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 342 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS stock opened at $543.04 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $608.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $572.36. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $387.12 and a 12-month high of $672.19. The firm has a market cap of $169.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. 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 (NYSE:GS) last posted its earnings results 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 Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Director Kevin R. Johnson bought 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $619.02 per share, with a total value of $1,485,648.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,485,648. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,255,506.25. This trade represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 in the last three months. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. UBS Group lifted 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $590.60.

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.