MetLife Investment Management LLC Grows Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,606 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 630 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $49,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,584,202 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,761,576,000 after purchasing an additional 161,500 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% during 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 buying an additional 112,696 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,053,614,000 after buying an additional 687,711 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,010,583 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,723,920,000 after acquiring an additional 229,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,603,315,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 owns 6,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,047,349.55. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $634.69, for a total value of $4,758,905.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,589 shares in the company, valued at $6,086,042.41. The trade was a 43.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on GS. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Daiwa America lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $614.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $593.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 2.2 %

GS opened at $509.83 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average is $561.96 and its 200-day moving average is $572.24. The company has a market cap of $159.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $403.01 and a 1-year high of $672.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $15.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $11.58 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

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

The Goldman Sachs Group 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.

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