MFA Wealth Services Makes New Investment in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

MFA Wealth Services purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 725 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $415,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,713,325,000 after acquiring an additional 7,475,140 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,042,640 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,991,772,000 after acquiring an additional 161,133 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,435,144,000 after acquiring an additional 521,054 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,780,338 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,257,602,000 after acquiring an additional 77,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,707,632 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $845,466,000 after purchasing an additional 18,541 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS stock opened at $638.68 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $200.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 0.88 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $589.34 and a 200 day moving average of $533.75. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $374.24 and a 1 year high of $645.54.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The business had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 46.81 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $634.69, for a total transaction of $4,758,905.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,086,042.41. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,017 shares of company stock valued at $19,655,538 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.54% 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.