Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Lowers Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lowered its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 237,695 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 43,328 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $136,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter worth $1,189,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.8% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 1,824 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total transaction of $965,115.15. Following the transaction, the treasurer now owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson acquired 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $619.02 per share, for a total transaction of $1,485,648.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,485,648. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 in the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $605.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $593.27.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $573.37 on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $387.12 and a 52 week high of $672.19. The company has a market capitalization of $178.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $610.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $570.63. 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 Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share 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 $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 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.