The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,660,088 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,246 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.53% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $898,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GS. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.7% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 15,998 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $7,920,000 after buying an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,691 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,788,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,563 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,240,000 after buying an additional 1,351 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,072,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 79.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 63,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $31,493,000 after buying an additional 28,165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.08, for a total value of $3,060,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 608,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,404,774. This represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,940 shares of company stock worth $13,717,979 over the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.1 %

GS opened at $591.71 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $351.60 and a one year high of $612.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $559.27 and its 200-day moving average is $507.43. The company has a market capitalization of $185.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $3.00 dividend. 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 2.03%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HSBC lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $559.75.

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.