The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Purchased by Blair William & Co. IL

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.6%, acquiring an additional 2,457 shares, bringing their total holdings to approximately $86.5 million.
• Goldman Sachs' stock price was boosted by analysts, with Morgan Stanley raising its target to $715.00, alongside other positive recommendations despite some analysts issuing sell ratings.
• The Goldman Sachs Group recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $3.00 to $4.00, reflecting a positive change in shareholder returns.

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 158,372 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 2,457 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.05% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $86,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,038,057 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $594,412,000 after purchasing an additional 138,198 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth $321,000. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 41.5% during 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. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at about $1,643,000. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.2% in the first quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 3,271 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,787,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on GS shares. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $660.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total value of $4,706,944.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,876,426.56. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total transaction of $4,310,079.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,079 shares of company stock valued at $14,423,221 in the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE GS traded down $10.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $715.92. The stock had a trading volume of 684,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,606,398. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $737.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $672.36 and a 200 day moving average of $611.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $219.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 13.84%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. Sell-side 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $4.00 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is 26.44%.

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.