Dodge & Cox Decreases Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Dodge & Cox decreased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 28.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,870,536 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 1,509,556 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox owned about 1.25% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $2,216,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities decreased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $600.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $660.00 to $594.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Daiwa America lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $593.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John B. Hess bought 3,904 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,997,598.72. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,997,598.72. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total value of $1,275,338.34. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,047,349.55. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 2.2 %

The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded up $10.78 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $509.83. 2,587,774 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,376,637. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $403.01 and a twelve month high of $672.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $561.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $572.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $159.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $12.57 by $1.55. The company had revenue of $15.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.99 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $11.58 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is 27.85%.

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.