The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 232,271 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 2,670 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned about 0.07% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $89,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.9% during the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 2,885 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $934,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Lake Street Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.9% during the third quarter. Lake Street Financial LLC now owns 9,435 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,068,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.7% during the third quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 742 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.3% during the third quarter. Steward Financial Group LLC now owns 768 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.9% during the third quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 2,596 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $333.00 to $449.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Edward Jones assumed coverage on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $349.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $382.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $434.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total transaction of $4,550,956.00. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 18,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,190,901.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total transaction of $4,550,956.00. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 18,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,190,901.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total transaction of $5,001,372.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,417 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,947.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of GS traded up $7.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $427.57. 2,322,674 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,404,007. The company has a market cap of $138.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.43. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.36 and a 52-week high of $428.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company's 50-day moving average price is $400.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $370.90.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The business had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.79 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.86 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $2.75 dividend. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

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.