Westpac Banking Corp Purchases 4,814 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 27.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 4,814 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group makes up 0.8% of Westpac Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $12,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total transaction of $1,275,338.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $4,047,349.55. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson purchased 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $619.02 per share, for a total transaction of $1,485,648.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,485,648. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 over the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $660.00 to $594.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $591.87.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $564.24 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $603.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $573.30. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $387.12 and a one year high of $672.19. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.48 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.59%.

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.