Epiq Partners LLC Takes Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Epiq Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 638 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GS. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,012,564 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,319,470,000 after purchasing an additional 338,181 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,693,331 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,842,192,000 after buying an additional 412,383 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,518,035 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,128,693,000 after buying an additional 152,474 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,195,203 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,004,153,000 after acquiring an additional 27,524 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,953,461 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,910,897,000 after acquiring an additional 274,989 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $10.76 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $445.10. 1,201,683 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,275,017. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $446.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $409.11. The stock has a market cap of $143.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.39. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $289.36 and a one year high of $471.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.54 by $3.04. The company had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.79 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $349.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $410.00 to $430.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $443.78.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total value of $2,161,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.