Atwood & Palmer Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 40,225.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 33,067 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,985 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group comprises approximately 1.5% of Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Atwood & Palmer Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $23,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 170.0% in the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 54 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 326.7% in the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $627.00 price target (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $660.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total transaction of $4,310,079.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $780.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $793.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $728.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $631.75.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $4.00 dividend. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.26%.

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.