Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 981,586 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,431,019 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 981,586 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,698,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,713,325,000 after acquiring an additional 7,475,140 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,102.4% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 810,836 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $366,780,000 after buying an additional 743,402 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7,932.6% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 444,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $200,959,000 after buying an additional 438,754 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 878.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 397,082 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $179,608,000 after buying an additional 356,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $137,134,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $535.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119 in the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE:GS opened at $581.93 on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $334.55 and a twelve month high of $607.15. The company has a market cap of $182.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.35. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $524.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $491.95.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The business had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.21%.

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.