Essential Planning LLC. Has $534,000 Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Essential Planning LLC. grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 100.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,000 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Essential Planning LLC.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,713,325,000 after buying an additional 7,475,140 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,155,336 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,524,669,000 after purchasing an additional 112,696 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,936,853 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,109,081,000 after purchasing an additional 22,794 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $584.00.

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The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE GS opened at $524.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $163.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $383.41 and a one year high of $672.19. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $613.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $566.13. 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 Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The business had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 2.29%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,047,349.55. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.74, for a total value of $2,317,733.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now owns 4,552 shares in the company, valued at $2,898,440.48. The trade was a 44.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

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.

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