The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Position Raised by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,264 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $46,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% in the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at $6,119,949.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,287,748. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,013,500 shares of company stock valued at $32,181,365 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Barclays increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $493.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $461.00 to $464.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.94.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $510.25 on Friday. 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 50-day moving average of $485.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $444.43. The company has a market cap of $161.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.52 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $3.00 dividend. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.95%.

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.