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

Prudential PLC decreased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,705 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 8,194 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $14,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GS. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in 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 valued at $129,144,000 after acquiring an additional 5,541 shares in the last quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 15,506 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $8,879,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,743 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,309,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its holdings 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 worth $21,934,000 after buying an additional 2,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $356,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $660.00 to $594.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $589.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $4,047,349.55. The trade was a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total transaction of $965,115.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,117,296.64. This 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. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS stock opened at $469.57 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $146.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $597.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $572.76. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $387.12 and a fifty-two week high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 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.