J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Has $2.55 Million Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,620 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 314 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,554,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $66,000. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,505.1% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 41,300 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,633,000 after buying an additional 38,727 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.5% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 118,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $39,153,000 after buying an additional 18,540 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 79.4% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 827 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 118.3% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 310 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $349.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $478.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group lifted 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 report on Tuesday, January 9th. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $445.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Six investment 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $434.93.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE GS traded up $0.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $404.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,805,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,247,265. 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 Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $289.36 and a one year high of $419.20. The company has a market cap of $131.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s fifty day moving average is $396.43 and its 200-day moving average is $366.20.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The business had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.41 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $2.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 42.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,277 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.81, for a total value of $2,763,877.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,469,144.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,947.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.81, for a total transaction of $2,763,877.37. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,469,144.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,907 shares of company stock worth $13,950,851 in the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.