Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. Purchases 680 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the first quarter, holding 27,866 shares valued at approximately $15.22 million.
• The Goldman Sachs Group announced a quarterly dividend increase from $3.00 to $4.00, with a dividend yield of 2.2% and a payout ratio of 26.44%.
• The stock has strong price performance, with a one-year high of $749.05 and a current market capitalization of $216.56 billion.

Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,866 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 680 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group makes up about 3.2% of Laffer Tengler Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $15,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPG Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.2% in the 1st quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 33,042 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $18,051,000 after buying an additional 16,780 shares during the last quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 381 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 56.0% in the 1st quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 1,755 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,604,472 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $874,318,000 after buying an additional 216,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 9.6% during the first quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 25,797 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $14,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were 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 $89,876,426.56. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GS shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and set a $627.00 price target (up previously from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS traded up $25.8940 on Friday, hitting $741.8440. 1,948,403 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,761,464. The firm has a market cap of $224.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.38. 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 fifty day moving average of $705.56 and a two-hundred day moving average 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 data 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 firm had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The Goldman Sachs Group's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $4.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. 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 2.2%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.