Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 1,378 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 102,299 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,378 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $39,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GS. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,936,351 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,038,425,000 after buying an additional 1,696,350 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,764,509 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,396,236,000 after purchasing an additional 52,016 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,339,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,080,676,000 after purchasing an additional 104,424 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,792,239 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $903,485,000 after acquiring an additional 159,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $759,531,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 1.8 %

The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded up $7.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $403.91. The stock had a trading volume of 4,363,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,364,584. The stock has a market cap of $131.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $395.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $365.08. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.36 and a 12 month high of $419.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The business had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 8.17%. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.79 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 32.76 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a $2.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total value of $5,001,372.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,947.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total value of $5,001,372.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,947.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total transaction of $4,550,956.00. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 18,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,190,901.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,907 shares of company stock worth $13,950,851 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GS shares. HSBC lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $349.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $437.00 to $493.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.93.

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.