Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Has $79.43 Million Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lowered its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 138,708 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 3,110 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $79,427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,603,315,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $624,844,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 14,007.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,059,716 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $606,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052,204 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,053,614,000 after purchasing an additional 687,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,400.8% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 419,095 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $239,982,000 after purchasing an additional 391,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $517.94 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $387.12 and a 12-month high of $672.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $582.13 and a 200-day moving average of $572.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $614.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $660.00 to $594.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $720.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $586.00.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total transaction of $1,275,338.34. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $4,047,349.55. The trade was a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total transaction of $965,115.15. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.