Legacy Private Trust Co. Decreases Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Legacy Private Trust Co. lowered its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,863 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 295 shares during the period. Legacy Private Trust Co.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $6,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GS. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,798 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,175,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. Westwind Capital purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth $126,000. Norway Savings Bank raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 2,721 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Finally, Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at $307,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of GS stock traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $579.48. 1,460,965 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,875,529. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.38. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $372.07 and a 12-month high of $612.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $580.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $523.49. 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) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.47 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.06 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.08, for a total value of $3,060,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 608,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,404,774. This represents a 0.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,940 shares of company stock worth $13,717,979. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. HSBC cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $588.00 to $713.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $570.00 to $686.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $569.31.

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.