Argent Trust Co Lowers Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Argent Trust Co cut its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,249 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 41 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $7,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $227,000. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 44.3% during the 4th quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 10,180 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,830,000 after purchasing an additional 3,127 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,591 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Bank of Hawaii raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Hawaii now owns 6,336 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,628,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 61,185 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $35,036,000 after buying an additional 14,059 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,086,042.41. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.74, for a total value of $2,317,733.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 4,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,898,440.48. This represents a 44.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of GS stock traded down $21.40 on Thursday, reaching $495.47. 520,141 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,369,713. 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 company has a market cap of $154.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $582.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $572.44. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $387.12 and a 1 year high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $13.87 billion during 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 Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.48 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GS. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $660.00 to $594.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. JMP Securities cut their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $600.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $586.00.

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.