Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 121,701 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,819 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $66,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of GS opened at $627.63 on Tuesday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $571.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $583.34. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $437.37 and a 12-month high of $672.19. 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 firm has a market cap of $192.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.32.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $12.57 by $1.55. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The business had revenue of $15.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $11.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is 27.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Director John B. Hess bought 3,904 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.68 per share, with a total value of $1,997,598.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,904 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,598.72. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GS. Oppenheimer lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $614.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $558.00 price target on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $593.40.

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.

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