Washington Trust Bank Decreases Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Washington Trust Bank lowered its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,676 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 3,071 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group comprises approximately 1.7% of Washington Trust Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Washington Trust Bank's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $17,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GS. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 163 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Ledyard National Bank now owns 486 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 raised its position 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 worth $951,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Genesee Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $605.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Friday, February 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $593.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kevin R. Johnson bought 2,400 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $619.02 per share, for a total transaction of $1,485,648.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,485,648. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at $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 have sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GS traded down $12.57 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $573.37. 1,942,441 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,238,238. 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 1 year low of $387.12 and a 1 year high of $672.19. The company's 50-day moving average is $611.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $570.61. The company has a market capitalization of $178.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.14, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given 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 2.09%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.59%.

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.