New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Cuts Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board decreased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,089 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $8,640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. West Branch Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.0% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 63 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total value of $3,313,590.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at $2,255,506.25. This represents a 59.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 31,475 shares of company stock valued at $19,692,543 in the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $661.56 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $379.14 and a one year high of $663.87. The company’s 50-day moving average is $603.93 and its 200 day moving average is $550.81. The company has a market capitalization of $205.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.48 EPS. 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 29.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GS. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.06.

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.