Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 359,988 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 4,288 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $206,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.0% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 63 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their target price for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $593.56.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $16.56 on Friday, reaching $625.70. 2,996,182 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,555,497. The company has a 50 day moving average of $611.58 and a 200 day moving average of $557.71. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $381.42 and a 52 week high of $672.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.39.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The business had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.48 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is 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 transaction of $1,275,338.34. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $4,047,349.55. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total value of $965,115.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,117,296.64. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,475 shares of company stock valued at $19,692,543. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.