Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 839,857 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,766,439 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 839,857 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 1.21% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $2,156,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GS. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 163 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 486 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 660 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Horst & Graben Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,179 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $675,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $626.24 on Tuesday. 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 market cap of $195.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $612.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $559.91. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $381.42 and a 52-week high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.74, for a total value of $2,317,733.60. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 4,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,898,440.48. This represents a 44.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total value of $1,275,338.34. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,047,349.55. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,475 shares of company stock worth $19,692,543. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GS shares. HSBC cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $593.56.

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.