California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 86,772 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 13.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 732,698 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 86,772 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $282,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 27,076.5% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 653,322 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $211,396,000 after buying an additional 650,918 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,693,331 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,842,192,000 after purchasing an additional 412,383 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,719,242 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $556,295,000 after purchasing an additional 255,690 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,070,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 612,025 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $236,101,000 after acquiring an additional 180,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

NYSE:GS traded up $2.36 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $419.71. 622,326 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,373,958. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $396.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $367.80. The company has a market cap of $136.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.43. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.36 and a 12-month high of $420.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The business had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.79 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 42.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GS shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $437.00 to $493.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.93.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total value of $4,550,956.00. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 18,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,190,901.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total value of $4,550,956.00. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 18,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,190,901.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total transaction of $5,001,372.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,947.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.