Abacus Planning Group Inc. Purchases New Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Abacus Planning Group Inc. has acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group, purchasing 397 shares valued at approximately $281,000.
• Several institutional investors, including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, have significantly increased their stakes in Goldman Sachs, indicating strong interest in the company.
• The Goldman Sachs Group recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $4.00 per share, up from the previous $3.00, reflecting a positive outlook for shareholders.

Abacus Planning Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 397 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 524,296 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $286,418,000 after purchasing an additional 116,535 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth about $321,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 161.8% during the first quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 41.5% in the first quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 49,800 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $27,205,000 after buying an additional 14,600 shares during the period. Finally, Terra Nova Asset Management LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,643,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $706.00 to $854.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $752.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $713.88.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $790.32 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.38 and a 1 year high of $825.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business's 50-day moving average is $755.05 and its 200-day moving average is $655.05. The company has a market capitalization of $239.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.42.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $4.00 per share. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is currently 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.

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