The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management trimmed its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,200 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $10,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 617,504.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 29,058,291 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $20,566,005,000 after purchasing an additional 29,053,586 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,804 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,820,677,000 after purchasing an additional 40,125 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth about $1,766,238,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,084,108 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,138,527,000 after purchasing an additional 120,272 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,891,260 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $967,193,000 after purchasing an additional 225,993 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $785.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $727.31.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS stock opened at $765.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $825.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $760.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $662.94. The company has a market capitalization of $231.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.42.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The company had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.62 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $4.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total value of $6,754,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 106,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,755,196.68. This trade represents a 7.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828 over the last 90 days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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.