The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Holdings Cut by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. sold 1,990 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, reducing its holdings by 47.8% to 2,172 shares, valued at approximately $1,186,000.
• The Goldman Sachs Group announced a quarterly dividend increase to $4.00 per share from the previous $3.00, indicating a positive financial outlook for the company.
• Goldman Sachs reported strong earnings with $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates and resulting in a revenue of $14.58 billion.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 47.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,172 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 1,990 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% in 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 period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,053,614,000 after acquiring an additional 687,711 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 428,502 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,766,238,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,010,583 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,723,920,000 after acquiring an additional 229,673 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of GS traded down $14.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $709.40. The stock had a trading volume of 2,997,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,015,611. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $437.37 and a 12-month high of $737.88. The firm has a market cap of $217.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.12. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $669.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $610.85.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 12.37%. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is 26.44%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total value of $4,310,079.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total value of $4,706,944.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,876,426.56. This trade represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Daiwa America cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 target price on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $660.00.

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.