Leavell Investment Management Inc. Acquires 900 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.4%, acquiring an additional 900 shares, bringing its total to 5,547 shares valued at approximately $3.93 million.
• Insider trading revealed that COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares, reducing his position by 7.42%, while still maintaining 115,268 shares valued at around $86.46 million.
• The Goldman Sachs Group announced a quarterly dividend of $4.00 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for December 2nd, representing an annualized yield of 2.0%.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 19.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,547 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $3,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,800.0% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 38 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 46.9% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 72 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% during the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total value of $6,934,016.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 115,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,463,679.48. This trade represents a 7.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $725.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Zacks Research lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $850.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $779.50.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS stock opened at $784.09 on Friday. 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 quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market cap of $237.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $767.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $680.36.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The investment management company reported $12.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.27 by $1.98. The business had revenue of $11.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.68 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 13.18%.The company's revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be paid a $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is 32.50%.

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.

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