Kovack Advisors Inc. Cuts Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Kovack Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,676 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 30 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GS. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at $2,255,506.25. The trade was a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total transaction of $1,275,338.34. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,047,349.55. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,475 shares of company stock worth $19,692,543 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $720.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $618.04 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $614.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $561.19. The firm has a market cap of $192.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $381.42 and a 12-month 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 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 firm had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. 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.