CWA Asset Management Group LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,311 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 709 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $11,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 213,605 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $122,453,000 after buying an additional 49,710 shares in the last quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,311 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,217 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,560,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 104.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 561 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 364,276 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $180,357,000 after acquiring an additional 7,644 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE GS traded up $2.00 on Monday, hitting $582.13. 589,164 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,397,175. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $372.07 and a twelve month high of $612.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $578.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $521.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.47 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. 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 35.21%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at $5,046,795.39. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,940 shares of company stock valued at $13,717,979 over the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GS shares. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $561.50.

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.