The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Sold by Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 59.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 41,255 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 60,472 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $23,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,713,325,000 after buying an additional 7,475,140 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,042,640 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,991,772,000 after purchasing an additional 161,133 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,707,632 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $845,466,000 after purchasing an additional 18,541 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,660,088 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $898,428,000 after purchasing an additional 62,246 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.06.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $657.47 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $598.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $544.50. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $375.20 and a 52 week high of $658.85. 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 has a market cap of $204.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results 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 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 the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.1 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 29.59%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 31,475 shares of company stock valued at $19,692,543. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.