Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Increases Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 14.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,821 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,258 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $5,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,713,325,000 after acquiring an additional 7,475,140 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 414,867 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $205,403,000 after buying an additional 251,972 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 829.0% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 260,317 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $128,886,000 after acquiring an additional 232,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 265.4% during the third quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 248,500 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $123,035,000 after purchasing an additional 180,500 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total value of $965,115.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total value of $4,001,460.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 117,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $72,015,903.53. This trade represents a 5.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 31,475 shares of company stock valued at $19,692,543. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE:GS opened at $655.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $375.20 and a fifty-two week high of $663.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $600.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $546.46.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 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 given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on GS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. HSBC lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.06.

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.