Next Century Growth Investors LLC Has $4.69 Million Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Next Century Growth Investors LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 14.1%, owning 8,593 shares valued at $4.69 million at the end of the first quarter.
• The Goldman Sachs Group recently reported $10.91 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, along with a 14.5% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase from $3.00 to $4.00 per share, set to be paid on September 29th, reflecting a 2.1% dividend yield.

Next Century Growth Investors LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,593 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 1,065 shares during the quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $4,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. King Wealth Management Group boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,086 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,877 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,211,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 777 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.9% during the 1st 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. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the business'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 value of $4,706,944.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 target price on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Zacks Research upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.1%

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $749.87 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $712.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $622.80. The company has a market cap of $227.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.38. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $753.00. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The business 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.62 EPS. Analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.44%.

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.

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