Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Trims Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,322 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 2,598 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $24,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $911,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,553 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,759,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 375 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter worth $228,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 29.1% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 4,230 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,094,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays cut their price target on shares of 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. JMP Securities cut their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $600.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $593.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of GS traded up $7.40 on Thursday, reaching $554.95. The stock had a trading volume of 2,582,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,369,966. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.17 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $543.09 and a 200 day moving average of $574.28. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $428.17 and a twelve month high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $12.57 by $1.55. The business had revenue of $15.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.99 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $11.58 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John B. Hess bought 3,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director now owns 3,904 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,598.72. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group 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.