J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Lowers Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.9%, holding 11,706 shares valued at approximately $8.18 million after a sale of 1,138 shares in Q2.
• In the same period, other institutional investors have made moves, with Brighton Jones LLC increasing its stake by 17.1% and multiple other firms acquiring or boosting their positions in the company.
• The Goldman Sachs Group recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $4.00 from $3.00, reflecting a 2.1% yield and a payout ratio of 35.26%.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lessened its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 8.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,706 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 1,138 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $8,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $240,000. HBW Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 13.1% in the first quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 589 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fermata Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $306,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of GS stock opened at $779.53 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.38 and a 1 year 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's 50 day simple moving average is $753.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $653.41. The company has a market cap of $235.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.42.

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 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.62 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $4.00 dividend. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is currently 35.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $752.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $706.00 to $854.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $709.13.

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.

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