BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Lowers Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lowered its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 213,068 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 184,014 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $105,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth $26,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% in the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $535.75.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS stock opened at $581.93 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $524.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $491.95. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $334.55 and a one year high of $607.15. The firm has a market cap of $182.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.35.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.21%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total value of $3,826,245.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,614 shares in the company, valued at $34,358,685.04. The trade was a 10.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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.