First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases New Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,373 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,159,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 65.4% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 316 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 27.2% during the third quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,030 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Culbertson A N & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.9% during the third quarter. Culbertson A N & Co. Inc. now owns 28,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $9,369,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 40.0% during the third quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 3,500 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Secure Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter valued at about $219,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $427.37 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $289.36 and a one year high of $428.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $400.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $370.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.43.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The business had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.79 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be issued a $2.75 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is 42.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $446.00 to $479.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $445.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $478.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $410.00 to $430.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $434.93.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

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

About The Goldman Sachs Group

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.