Prudential Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 46.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 271,709 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 232,348 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.09% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $155,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GS. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $565.00 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $387.12 and a 12-month high of $672.19. 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 50-day moving average price is $610.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $569.20.

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 (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 business had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GS. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, HSBC downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $594.27.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total value of $3,313,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,255,506.25. This trade represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total value of $965,115.15. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,117,296.64. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.