Comerica Bank Lowers Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Comerica Bank has reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.6% during the first quarter, now holding 83,728 shares valued at approximately $45.74 million.
• Insider selling was significant, with CFO Denis P. Coleman and EVP John F.W. Rogers each selling thousands of shares, indicating a 28.64% and 8.37% decrease in their respective holdings.
• The Goldman Sachs Group recently increased its quarterly dividend from $3.00 to $4.00, resulting in an annualized dividend of $16.00 and a yield of 2.2%.

Comerica Bank trimmed its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 83,728 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 2,270 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $45,740,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,038,057 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $594,412,000 after purchasing an additional 138,198 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $321,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 161.8% during the first quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $27,205,000 after purchasing an additional 14,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Terra Nova Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $1,643,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. This represents a 28.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,079 shares of company stock valued at $14,423,221. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 3.6%

GS stock opened at $741.8440 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.38 and a 1-year high of $749.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $705.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $620.70. The firm has a market cap of $224.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.62 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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