Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,841 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GS. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 339,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $167,866,000 after purchasing an additional 13,730 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.3% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,199 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% in the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 4,605 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,280,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $828,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 879 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.0 %

GS stock opened at $531.59 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $383.41 and a fifty-two week high of $672.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $615.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $566.64. The stock has a market cap of $165.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.26%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $634.69, for a total transaction of $4,758,905.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,086,042.41. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total transaction of $3,313,590.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,255,506.25. The trade was a 59.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company Profile

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.