Ballast Inc. Buys New Shares in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Key Points

• Ballast Inc. has acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. by purchasing 875 shares valued at approximately $478,000.
• In addition to Ballast Inc., several other hedge funds have increased their holdings in Goldman Sachs during the first quarter, with SouthState Corp leading the way with a 36.3% increase.
• The Goldman Sachs Group has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $3.00 to $4.00, indicating positive financial performance and a yield of 2.2%.

Ballast Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 875 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $478,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. King Wealth Management Group increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,086 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $593,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,877 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,211,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 777 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 2,330 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,273,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded up $2.95 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $747.64. 1,371,029 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,568,873. The company has a market cap of $226.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.38 and a fifty-two week high of $748.91. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $689.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $616.41.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The company had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $4.00 dividend. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is 26.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total transaction of $4,706,944.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,876,426.56. This trade represents a 4.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 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. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,079 shares of company stock valued at $14,423,221. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on GS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $627.00 target price (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group 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.