WASHINGTON TRUST Co Buys 176 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 26.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 853 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. ABN Amro Investment Solutions bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,648,000. Breed s Hill Capital LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 13.5% during the second quarter. Breed s Hill Capital LLC now owns 994 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 155,063 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $109,746,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 46,382 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $32,827,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 123.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,107 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $806.56 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $784.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $707.77. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.38 and a 12 month high of $841.28. The company has a market cap of $241.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.41.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The investment management company reported $12.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.27 by $1.98. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 13.18%.The company had revenue of $15.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be given a $4.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 32.50%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total transaction of $6,754,590.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 106,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,755,196.68. This represents a 7.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $762.00 to $805.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $725.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $785.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $779.50.

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.