L & S Advisors Inc Reduces Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Key Points

• L & S Advisors Inc reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 25.9% in Q1, now holding 12,878 shares valued at approximately $7.04 million.
• The Goldman Sachs Group reported earnings of $10.91 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and reflecting a 14.5% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $4.00 per share, a notable increase from its previous dividend of $3.00, with a yield of 2.3%.

L & S Advisors Inc lessened its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 25.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,878 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 4,502 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $7,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GS. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,172,423,000 after acquiring an additional 3,970,467 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,053,614,000 after purchasing an additional 687,711 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,292,679 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,885,454,000 after purchasing an additional 428,502 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth $1,766,238,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,010,583 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,723,920,000 after buying an additional 229,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 1.5%

GS traded down $10.55 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $715.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 684,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,606,398. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $737.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $672.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $611.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 13.84% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $4.00 per share. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total transaction of $4,706,944.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221 over the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GS. Wall Street Zen upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 target price on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $660.00.

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.