Round Hill Asset Management Lowers Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Round Hill Asset Management lowered its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,665 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,119 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group makes up 1.9% of Round Hill Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Round Hill Asset Management’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 80,301 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $44,644,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 76.1% during the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 2,550 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after buying an additional 1,102 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,053,614,000 after buying an additional 687,711 shares in the last quarter. Prospector Partners LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 8,399 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,809,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $226,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $469.57 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $597.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $573.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. 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 market capitalization of $146.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.48 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total transaction of $965,115.15. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,117,296.64. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $634.69, for a total transaction of $4,758,905.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,086,042.41. This represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 over the last three months. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $614.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $720.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $589.19.

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.