Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,459 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 179 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth about $1,903,374,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,120,119,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,102.4% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 810,836 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $366,780,000 after acquiring an additional 743,402 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,184,196 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $842,597,000 after acquiring an additional 464,954 shares during the period. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 26,378.2% in the 1st quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 407,764 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 406,224 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.2 %

The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $503.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 551,065 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,320,211. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.36 and a 1 year high of $517.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $475.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $436.45.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.60 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 9.36%. On average, analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.74 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $5,050,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,287,748. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $5,050,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,287,748. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,013,500 shares of company stock valued at $32,181,365. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $490.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $513.00 to $561.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.94.

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.