Janney Capital Management LLC Lowers Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Janney Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 33,612 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,434 shares during the quarter. Janney Capital Management LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $14,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,693,331 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,842,192,000 after buying an additional 412,383 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,518,035 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,128,693,000 after buying an additional 152,474 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,195,203 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,004,153,000 after buying an additional 27,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,953,461 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,910,897,000 after acquiring an additional 274,989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $3.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $464.75. The company had a trading volume of 1,594,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,825,111. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $454.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $413.68. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $2.75 per share. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total value of $25,360,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total value of $2,161,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 623,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GS shares. Seaport Res Ptn cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $424.00 to $433.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $478.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted 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 note on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $445.62.

About The Goldman Sachs Group

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.