First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Makes New $5.16 Million Investment in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 13,373 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,159,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Syon Capital LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 5,135 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,981,000 after acquiring an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $212,000. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,366 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,842,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 12,004 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,631,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $424.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $437.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised The Goldman Sachs Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $333.00 to $449.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Argus upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $446.00 to $479.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.93.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of GS opened at $427.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.12. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $289.36 and a one year high of $428.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $400.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $370.11.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $2.75 per share. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 42.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total transaction of $5,001,372.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,417 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,947.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total transaction of $5,001,372.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,947.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total value of $4,550,956.00. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 18,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,190,901.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company 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.