CENTRAL TRUST Co Decreases Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 20.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,116 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 817 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,584,202 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,761,576,000 after acquiring an additional 161,500 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,155,336 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,524,669,000 after purchasing an additional 112,696 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,172,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,467 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,053,614,000 after buying an additional 687,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,292,679 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,885,454,000 after buying an additional 428,502 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $558.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup decreased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $660.00 to $594.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $593.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of GS stock traded up $11.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $635.69. The stock had a trading volume of 2,421,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,373,551. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $575.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $583.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.32. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $437.37 and a 12 month high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 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 the consensus estimate of $14.99 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.86% and a return on equity of 13.76%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $11.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.85%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, Director John B. Hess acquired 3,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,997,598.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,904 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,598.72. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.55% 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.