The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS Position Boosted by Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 93.3%, now owning 38,522 shares valued at approximately $21 million.
• Multiple institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Northern Trust Corp, have significantly increased their holdings in Goldman Sachs, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.
• The Goldman Sachs Group declared a quarterly dividend of $4.00 per share, up from $3.00, marking an annualized yield of 2.1%.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 93.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,522 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,592 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $21,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. King Wealth Management Group boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.8% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.3% during the first 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 during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% during the first quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $440,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on GS shares. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $660.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business'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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221 over the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

NYSE GS traded down $10.6320 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $720.3280. The stock had a trading volume of 988,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,543,750. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $749.05. The company has a market cap of $218.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $697.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $618.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current 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 the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The company had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is presently 26.44%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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.