Earned Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 833 The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Key Points

• Earned Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, purchasing 833 shares valued at approximately $455,000.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Goldman Sachs, with Citigroup increasing its target from $550 to $700 and Wells Fargo from $650 to $785.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $4.00, increasing from the previous $3.00, representing an annual yield of 2.3%.

Earned Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 833 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $455,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GS. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings 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 valued at $594,412,000 after buying 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 1st quarter worth about $321,000. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $27,205,000 after acquiring an additional 14,600 shares during the period. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at about $1,643,000. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 3,271 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,787,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $4.86 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $721.17. 1,976,389 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,110,067. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $674.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $612.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $218.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.38. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.38 and a 52 week high of $737.88.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $4.00 per share. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total value of $4,310,079.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,876,426.56. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GS. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $660.00.

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.