DnB Asset Management AS Boosts Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 149,161 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 16,286 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $85,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 224,148 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $129,144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,541 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,743 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,309,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 38,304 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $21,934,000 after buying an additional 2,863 shares during the period. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $356,000. Finally, Park Edge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $703,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS traded up $3.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $546.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,530,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,280,111. The business's 50 day moving average price is $608.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $572.36. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $387.12 and a 1 year high of $672.19. The company has a market cap of $170.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analysts' expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.48 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GS. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup reduced 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 report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $605.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $590.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kevin R. Johnson purchased 2,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $619.02 per share, for a total transaction of $1,485,648.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,485,648. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total transaction of $3,313,590.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,255,506.25. The trade was a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.