Vest Financial LLC Purchases 1,319 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 73.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,116 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,038,057 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $594,412,000 after acquiring an additional 138,198 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $129,144,000 after acquiring an additional 5,541 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc. raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 15,506 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $8,879,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at $356,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $558.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reduced their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $600.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $593.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS stock traded up $8.82 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $623.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,477,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,367,293. The company has a market capitalization of $191.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.32. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $437.37 and a one year high of $672.19. 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $558.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $583.03.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $12.57 by $1.55. The company 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 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $11.58 EPS. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.85%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Director John B. Hess purchased 3,904 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $511.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,997,598.72. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,997,598.72. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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.