Blue Trust Inc. Reduces Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 14.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,131 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 549 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 429 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 294 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% during the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 2,485 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 3,597 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,546,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $765.14 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $760.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $662.32. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $825.25.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $4.00 per share. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $706.00 to $854.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Wall Street Zen raised The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. HSBC increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $750.00 to $843.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $727.31.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total transaction of $4,310,079.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

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.

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