Avestar Capital LLC Acquires 148 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 8.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,824 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $903,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% during the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $605.22 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $534.27 and its 200 day moving average is $496.57. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $334.87 and a one year high of $611.30. The firm has a market cap of $189.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.47 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.21%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $550.63.

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.