New Century Financial Group LLC Reduces Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

New Century Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 22.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 613 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 174 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GS. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,582 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,268,000 after purchasing an additional 761 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 62.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at $1,388,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 34.2% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 8,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,448,000 after buying an additional 2,103 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $528.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $170.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $498.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $469.85. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.36 and a 1-year high of $540.51.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.52 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. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $524.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.54% of the stock is owned by 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.