Virtu Financial LLC Increases Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Virtu Financial LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 233.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,699 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,991 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $3,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 224,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $129,144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,541 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,743 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 38,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $21,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,863 shares during the period. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $356,000. Finally, Park Edge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $703,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $565.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $610.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $568.09. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $387.12 and a one year high of $672.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GS shares. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $594.27.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total transaction of $3,313,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,255,506.25. This trade represents a 59.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $634.69, for a total value of $4,758,905.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,086,042.41. This trade represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 in the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company 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.