CWA Asset Management Group LLC Sells 427 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• CWA Asset Management Group LLC sold 427 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, reducing their stake by 2.4% to a total of 17,469 shares valued at $12.36 million.
• The Goldman Sachs Group's CFO and EVP sold significant quantities of company stock, indicating insider selling trends, with sales totaling over $9.7 million in recent transactions.
• The company recently announced a dividend increase to $4.00 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous $3.00 quarterly dividend.

CWA Asset Management Group LLC reduced its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 2.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,469 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 427 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $12,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 170.0% during the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 54 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% during the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of 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. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $665.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total transaction of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS opened at $802.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $243.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 1.67 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $747.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $647.18. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The company's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect 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 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is 35.26%.

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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