The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Sold by Sandy Spring Bank

Sandy Spring Bank trimmed its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,478 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $15,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 224,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $129,144,000 after acquiring an additional 5,541 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,743 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 38,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $21,934,000 after buying an additional 2,863 shares during the period. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at $356,000. Finally, Park Edge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at $703,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on GS. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $594.27.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total transaction of $1,275,338.34. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $4,047,349.55. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total transaction of $965,115.15. Following the transaction, the treasurer now 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 a total of 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

NYSE:GS opened at $557.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $174.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $611.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $567.75. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $386.00 and a 12-month high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.48 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

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.