Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Acquires 8,166 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 366.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,394 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,166 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $5,952,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on 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, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $594.27.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS opened at $565.00 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $387.12 and a 52-week high of $672.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $610.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $568.09.

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 business had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Director Kevin R. Johnson bought 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,485,648. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $634.69, for a total value of $4,758,905.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,086,042.41. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 over the last 90 days. 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.