Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Has $7.61 Million Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. reduced its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,286 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 365 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group comprises about 1.9% of Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $7,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 224,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $129,144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,541 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 38,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $21,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,863 shares during the last quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $703,000. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $356,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 213,605 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $122,453,000 after acquiring an additional 49,710 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total value of $3,313,590.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group 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 sale, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,475 shares of company stock valued at $19,692,543 over the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $720.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $593.56.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of GS stock opened at $626.24 on Tuesday. 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 52-week low of $381.42 and a 52-week high of $672.19. The company has a market capitalization of $195.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $612.38 and its 200 day moving average is $559.91.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 29.59%.

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.