Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC Boosts Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,790 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,603,315,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $624,844,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 14,007.0% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,059,716 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $606,815,000 after buying an additional 1,052,204 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,400.8% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 419,095 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $239,982,000 after acquiring an additional 391,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 154.7% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 414,867 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $205,403,000 after acquiring an additional 251,972 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $634.69, for a total transaction of $4,758,905.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,086,042.41. This represents a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,275,338.34. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS stock opened at $543.04 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $169.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $387.12 and a 1 year high of $672.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $608.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $572.36.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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. Investors 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 2.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $605.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $720.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $590.60.

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.