Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 127,079 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,041,974 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 127,079 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.59% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $20,554,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.4% in the second quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 429 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 59 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 668 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,586,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.8% during the second quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 294 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $776.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $785.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $713.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.41. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.38 and a 1 year high of $841.28.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be issued a $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total transaction of $6,934,016.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 115,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,463,679.48. The trade was a 7.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $720.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $850.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. HSBC boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $685.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $786.00.

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.