Essex LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Essex LLC reduced its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.4%, now owning 16,625 shares valued at approximately $11.77 million.
• Insider selling activity included COO John E. Waldron and EVP John F.W. Rogers selling significant shares, decreasing their ownership by 7.81% and 8.37%, respectively.
• The Goldman Sachs Group reported earnings of $12.25 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations by $1.98, but the revenue was below forecast at $11.33 billion.

Essex LLC decreased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 23.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,625 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 5,077 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group accounts for approximately 2.3% of Essex LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Essex LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $11,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 28.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 524,296 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $286,418,000 after purchasing an additional 116,535 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $321,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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 valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 41.5% in 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. Finally, Terra Nova Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth about $1,643,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total transaction of $6,754,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 106,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $79,755,196.68. This represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the firm'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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828 in the last three months. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

NYSE GS opened at $771.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $763.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $666.12. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $825.25. The company has a market cap of $233.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.42.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The investment management company reported $12.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.27 by $1.98. The company had revenue of $11.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.68 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $4.00 per share. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is 35.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. HSBC boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $762.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $756.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $746.69.

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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