Primecap Management Co. CA Trims Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Primecap Management Co. CA decreased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 192,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 62,650 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 0.06% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $109,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.2% in the 3rd 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. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 849 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 15,380 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $7,615,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4,682.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,516,000 after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 897 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on GS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Barclays increased their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $594.27.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of GS opened at $551.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $172.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. 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 1-year low of $383.71 and a 1-year high of $672.19. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $611.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $567.82.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total transaction 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 represents a 59.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 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 a total of 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 in the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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.