Empower Advisory Group LLC Sells 98,090 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC has reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 39.2%, selling 98,090 shares and leaving it with 152,285 shares valued at approximately $83.2 million.
• The Goldman Sachs Group has recently increased its quarterly dividend from $3.00 to $4.00 per share, reflecting a positive shift in shareholder returns.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on The Goldman Sachs Group, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $660.00 amidst varying upgrades and downgrades.

Empower Advisory Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 39.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 152,285 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 98,090 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $83,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,989,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $583,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 344,597 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $197,323,000 after purchasing an additional 5,974 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. This trade represents 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 hyperlink. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the company'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 value of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup raised their price target 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. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS traded down $4.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $720.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,399,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,039,580. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.38 and a fifty-two week high of $737.88. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $218.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $679.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $613.75.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The company had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.62 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $4.00 per share. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is presently 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.