Russell Investments Group Ltd. Increases Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 53.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 178,294 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,322 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $68,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley grew its stake 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 valued at $1,842,192,000 after acquiring an additional 412,383 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,139,767 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,339,505,000 after buying an additional 41,488 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,339,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,080,676,000 after buying an additional 104,424 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,792,239 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $903,485,000 after buying an additional 159,512 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,848,113 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $597,994,000 after acquiring an additional 19,920 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GS shares. HSBC lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of 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. Bank of America upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $478.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $382.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $445.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $434.93.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $427.57 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $400.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $370.90. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.36 and a twelve month high of $428.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a market capitalization of $138.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.43.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 8.17%. The company had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.79 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total transaction of $4,550,956.00. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total transaction of $5,001,372.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,947.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.