New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 415,312 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 7,300 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $237,816,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.0% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 63 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE:GS opened at $671.44 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $608.24 and its 200 day moving average is $555.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $380.85 and a fifty-two week high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 29.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GS. UBS Group raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.06.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group 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 completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 8,192 shares in the company, valued at $5,117,296.64. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at $2,255,506.25. This represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,475 shares of company stock worth $19,692,543 in the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.