Optas LLC Sells 50 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Optas LLC reduced its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,597 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. West Branch Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.0% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 63 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Country Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on GS shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total transaction of $965,115.15. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 8,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,865 shares of company stock valued at $25,286,862. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of GS stock opened at $632.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.38. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $596.07 and its 200 day moving average is $541.71. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $375.20 and a 12-month high of $650.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company 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 company posted $5.48 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.1 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.59%.

The Goldman Sachs Group 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.