157 Shares in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Purchased by Northwest Investment Counselors LLC

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 157 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at $1,903,374,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,120,119,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,184,196 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $842,597,000 after purchasing an additional 464,954 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,693,331 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,842,192,000 after purchasing an additional 412,383 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,012,564 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,319,470,000 after purchasing an additional 338,181 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 2.0 %

GS stock traded up $9.02 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $459.20. 635,669 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,280,115. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50 day moving average of $444.55 and a 200-day moving average of $407.53. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.36 and a 52-week high of $471.48.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The business had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be issued a $2.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $445.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $349.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $478.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $424.00 to $433.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $440.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total value of $25,360,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total value of $2,161,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 623,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.