The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 67,389 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,089,202 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 67,389 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.35% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $623,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GS. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in 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 buying an additional 161,500 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 112,696 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% in 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. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,010,583 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,723,920,000 after purchasing an additional 229,673 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,603,315,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE:GS traded up $12.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $566.78. 2,881,391 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,372,004. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $541.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $574.50. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $428.17 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 capitalization of $176.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $12.57 by $1.55. The company had revenue of $15.06 billion during 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 period last year, the business earned $11.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $560.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JMP Securities reduced their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $600.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, April 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $593.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John B. Hess acquired 3,904 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $511.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,997,598.72. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,598.72. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate 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.