Banque Pictet & Cie SA Lowers Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 27.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor held 7,994 shares after selling 3,084 shares in the quarter. The value of Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Goldman Sachs was $7,027,000 at the end of the period.

Insider activity

Separately, company insiders reported share sales. Treasurer Carey Halio sold 2,846 shares on Tuesday, January 27, at an average price of $927.17, for proceeds of $2,638,725.82. After the transaction, Halio directly owned 2,017 shares valued at $1,870,101.89, representing a 58.52% decrease in ownership.

Insider Alex S. Golten sold 1,092 shares on Monday, February 9, at an average price of $936.89, for $1,023,083.88. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional details. In total, insiders sold 117,283 shares valued at $112,016,033 in the last quarter, and 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst notes on the stock

Several analysts updated their outlooks for Goldman Sachs. BNP Paribas Exane raised its target price from $775.00 to $970.00 and maintained a neutral rating in a report dated Friday, January 16. Morgan Stanley lowered its price target from $1,078.00 to $1,021.00 and set an equal weight rating in a note dated Tuesday.

Bank of America increased its price objective from $1,050.00 to $1,100.00 and reiterated a buy rating in a report dated Friday, January 16. Weiss Ratings reiterated a hold (c+) rating in a research report dated Monday, December 22. Jefferies Financial Group raised its target from $898.00 to $1,087.00 and assigned a buy rating in a report dated Tuesday, January 6.

Overall, eight analysts rated the stock as Buy and fourteen rated it Hold. MarketBeat.com reported an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $929.52.

Market performance and valuation

Goldman Sachs shares were up 0.4% at the time of the report. The stock opened at $863.92 on Friday. The company’s debt-to-equity ratio was 2.60, with a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Goldman Sachs reported a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $984.70. The market capitalization was $254.85 billion. Valuation metrics included a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13, and a beta of 1.32. The 50-day moving average price was $876.02 and the 200-day moving average price was $850.07.

Latest earnings and outlook

Goldman Sachs last posted quarterly earnings on Thursday, January 15. The firm reported earnings of $13.55 per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $2.03. Revenue was $15.71 billion, compared with analyst estimates of $14.30 billion.

The company reported a net margin of 13.73% and a return on equity of 15.72%. Revenue declined 3.0% year over year. In the prior-year quarter, Goldman Sachs posted $11.95 EPS. Equities analysts forecast Goldman Sachs will report 47.12 EPS for the current year.

Dividend update

Goldman Sachs also disclosed a quarterly dividend paid on Monday, March 30. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2 received $4.50 per share. This equates to an $18.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The dividend was higher than the company’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.00. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2, and the payout ratio was 35.09%.

Company profile

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a global investment banking and financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1869 as a commercial paper business, the company has expanded into a diversified financial institution serving corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals. The firm is led by Chief Executive Officer David M. Solomon and operates across major financial centers worldwide.

Goldman Sachs’ core businesses include investment banking, global markets, asset and wealth management, and consumer banking.