Evanson Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Evanson Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 356 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.0% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 63 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on GS shares. 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 research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $589.19.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.08, for a total transaction of $3,060,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 608,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $372,404,774. The trade was a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,940 shares of company stock worth $12,656,179. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE:GS opened at $626.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.38. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $372.07 and a 1 year high of $627.00. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $587.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $530.73.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.24 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued 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 1.91%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

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.