Lincoln National Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Lincoln National Corp cut its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,792 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 141 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $3,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,693,331 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,842,192,000 after acquiring an additional 412,383 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,518,035 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,128,693,000 after purchasing an additional 152,474 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,339,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,080,676,000 after buying an additional 104,424 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,792,239 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $903,485,000 after buying an additional 159,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,848,113 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $597,994,000 after acquiring an additional 19,920 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $382.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $424.00 to $433.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $349.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $440.57.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $443.80. The company had a trading volume of 2,055,793 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,367,302. 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 Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.36 and a 12-month high of $447.42. The company has a market capitalization of $144.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $405.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $376.21.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its 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 return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 8.17%. The business had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.07 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.95%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total value of $2,161,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 18,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,190,901.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at $269,475,456.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,330 shares of company stock valued at $11,713,578 over the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.