First Trust Advisors LP Has $122.97 Million Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 214,745 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 40,171 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.07% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $122,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $560.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $614.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group raised 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, January 21st. JMP Securities reduced their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $600.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $593.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total value of $3,313,590.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,255,506.25. This trade represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.74, for a total transaction of $2,317,733.60. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 4,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS stock traded up $14.62 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $543.93. 948,345 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,366,548. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $414.85 and a one year high of $672.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $553.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $572.78. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $12.57 by $1.55. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company had revenue of $15.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $11.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.85%.

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.