Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA Has $2.65 Million Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Farmers & Merchants Trust Co increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 14.7%, owning 3,743 shares valued at $2,649,000 by the end of the second quarter.
• Goldman Sachs announced a quarterly dividend of $4.00, an increase from the previous $3.00, representing an annual yield of 2.0%.
• CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of Goldman Sachs, reducing his ownership by 4.98%, while COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares, decreasing his ownership by 7.81%.

Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,743 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GS. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,172,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,467 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at $1,766,238,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at $897,185,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 102.6% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 14,764 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $8,065,000 after purchasing an additional 585,084 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5,559.2% in the first quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 470,220 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $256,876,000 after purchasing an additional 461,911 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS traded up $0.14 on Friday, hitting $804.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,788,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,604,564. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $809.66. 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 $738.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $638.00. The company has a market capitalization of $243.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.41.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The company had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.62 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 declared 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. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,876,426.56. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GS. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $627.00 target price (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley increased 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 note on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $665.00.

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.