The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Stock Holdings Lifted by Ashton Thomas Securities LLC

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,725 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,155,336 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,524,669,000 after acquiring an additional 112,696 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,936,853 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,109,081,000 after buying an additional 22,794 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,707,632 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $845,466,000 after buying an additional 18,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,660,088 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $898,428,000 after buying an additional 62,246 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at $2,255,506.25. This represents a 59.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson acquired 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $619.02 per share, with a total value of $1,485,648.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,485,648. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $591.93.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS opened at $581.12 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $181.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $387.12 and a twelve month high of $672.19. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $611.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $569.86.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The business had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.48 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $3.00 per share. 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 2.06%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 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.