The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS Stock Holdings Cut by Groupama Asset Managment

Key Points

• Groupama Asset Management has reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.1%, now holding 4,410 shares worth approximately $2.4 million.
• Insiders at Goldman Sachs, including the CFO, have recently sold shares, indicating a total of 20,079 shares were sold over the last ninety days, worth around $14.4 million.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend increase to $4.00 per share, up from the previous $3.00, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Groupama Asset Managment cut its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 19.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,410 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 1,039 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GS. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,766,238,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $944,334,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $897,185,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 214.1% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,294,084 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $741,018,000 after purchasing an additional 882,099 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was 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 $89,876,426.56. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 65,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,176,283.79. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their position. 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. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $627.00 target price (up previously from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GS traded up $1.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $743.14. The company had a trading volume of 570,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,520,485. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $749.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $705.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $620.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The company had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.62 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $4.00 per share. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is currently 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.