Grove Bank & Trust Sells 737 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Grove Bank & Trust reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 46.9% during Q2, bringing its holdings to 836 shares valued at approximately $592,000.
• Analysts have mixed sentiments on the stock; while Wells Fargo raised their price target to $855.00, HSBC downgraded it to a "moderate sell." Overall, the consensus rating for the stock remains a "Hold" with an average target price of $665.00.
• The Goldman Sachs Group announced a quarterly dividend increase from $3.00 to $4.00, reflecting a positive change and an annualized yield of 2.0%.

Grove Bank & Trust lowered its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 46.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 836 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 737 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $592,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. King Wealth Management Group lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,086 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 2,020 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,877 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,211,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.6% during the first quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 777 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 2,330 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,273,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS traded up $11.17 on Tuesday, reaching $816.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 400,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,434,668. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.02, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's 50-day moving average is $739.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $640.52.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $4.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total transaction of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. This represents a 28.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total transaction of $6,754,590.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 106,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at $79,755,196.68. This trade represents a 7.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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.