Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Sells 1,752 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lowered its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,916 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,752 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group comprises about 3.1% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $5,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GS. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 339,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $167,866,000 after purchasing an additional 13,730 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 6,346 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,142,000 after acquiring an additional 992 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 724 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 1,056 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, Eads & Heald Wealth Management increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 582 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GS shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. 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 research report on Thursday. Hsbc Global Res cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $622.11 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $616.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $562.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $381.42 and a 12 month high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.48 EPS. As a group, equities 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.59%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,255,506.25. This represents a 59.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson bought 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $619.02 per share, for a total transaction of $1,485,648.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,485,648. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 in the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.