Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Sells 41,076 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Clark Capital Management Group Inc. sold 41,076 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, reducing its stake by 24.1%, leaving it with 129,020 shares valued at approximately $70.48 million.
• The Goldman Sachs Group reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and showing a 14.5% increase in revenue compared to the prior year.
• The company has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $3.00 to $4.00 per share, reflecting a robust dividend payout ratio of 35.26%.

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. reduced its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 24.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 129,020 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 41,076 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $70,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $583,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 3,817 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,186,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $527,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and set a $627.00 price objective (up previously from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price target on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $9.79 on Friday, hitting $739.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,822,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,535,654. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.38 and a 1 year high of $757.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $723.63 and a 200-day moving average of $626.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The business had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total value of $4,706,944.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares in the company, valued at $89,876,426.56. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. 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.