Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Has $4.97 Million Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Key Points

• Essex Investment Management Co. LLC has reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.3%, selling 719 shares, leaving them with 9,092 shares valued at approximately $4.97 million.
• Insider selling has occurred, with EVP John F.W. Rogers and CEO David M. Solomon selling 6,008 and 6,608 shares respectively on July 23rd, leading to decreases in their ownership stakes of 8.37% and 4.98%.
• The Goldman Sachs Group has declared an increase in its quarterly dividend from $3.00 to $4.00, representing an annualized dividend of $16.00 and a yield of 2.21%.

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,092 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 719 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group accounts for about 1.0% of Essex Investment Management Co. LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $4,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,584,202 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,761,576,000 after purchasing an additional 161,500 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,172,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,467 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,053,614,000 after purchasing an additional 687,711 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,292,679 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,885,454,000 after purchasing an additional 428,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth about $1,766,238,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was 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 $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 4.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221 over the last 90 days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GS. Hsbc Global Res cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and issued a $627.00 price objective (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS traded down $13.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $710.31. 2,250,474 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,620,808. The stock has a market cap of $217.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $667.61 and a 200 day moving average of $609.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $437.37 and a 52 week high of $737.88.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company 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 $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is currently 35.26%.

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.