The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Sold by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lowered its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,388 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 759 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $13,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 163 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 486 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 660 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Pointe Capital Management LLC now owns 1,660 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Genesee Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,024,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Director John B. Hess acquired 3,904 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.68 per share, with a total value of $1,997,598.72. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,904 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,598.72. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total transaction of $3,313,590.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,255,506.25. This represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GS. UBS Group raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $558.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $593.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS stock traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $544.95. The stock had a trading volume of 1,611,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,371,344. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.85 and a 52 week high of $672.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $170.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $551.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $573.13.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $12.57 by $1.55. The firm had revenue of $15.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.99 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $11.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend 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.