Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 211 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,295 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 211 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.2% during 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 during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 9.5% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 566 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,963 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,962,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 148,822 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $74,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares during the period. Finally, Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 466 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $593.56.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total transaction of $4,001,460.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 117,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,015,903.53. This trade represents a 5.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total transaction of $3,313,590.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,255,506.25. This trade represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,475 shares of company stock valued at $19,692,543 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $626.24 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $612.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $559.91. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $381.42 and a 12 month high of $672.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.48 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.