Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Increases Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. by 28.6% in the first quarter, owning approximately $286.4 million worth of shares.
• Several analysts have recently raised their price targets for Goldman Sachs; notably, Citigroup increased its target from $550 to $700, while Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised it to $790.
• The Goldman Sachs Group announced a quarterly dividend of $4.00 per share, an increase from its previous dividend of $3.00, representing an annualized yield of 2.1%.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 28.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 524,296 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 116,535 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.17% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $286,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,172,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,467 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,766,238,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $944,334,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $897,185,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 214.1% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,294,084 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $741,018,000 after purchasing an additional 882,099 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS traded down $15.32 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $729.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,193,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,498,530. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $718.92 and a 200 day moving average of $624.40. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $753.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.97 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.41. 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 Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The business had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.62 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $4.00 dividend. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 115,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,463,679.48. This trade represents a 7.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

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.