Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $56.08 Million Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.3%, maintaining a position valued at $56.08 million after selling 8,101 shares in the first quarter.
• Insider sales include EVP John F.W. Rogers selling 6,008 shares for over $4.3 million and CFO Denis P. Coleman selling 7,463 shares for about $5.4 million, indicating a significant decrease in ownership.
• The Goldman Sachs Group announced a quarterly dividend increase to $4.00, up from $3.00, leading to an annualized dividend of $16.00 and a dividend yield of 2.2%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,656 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 8,101 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $56,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GS. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 170.0% in the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 54 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 326.7% in the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the company'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 value of $4,310,079.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 20,079 shares of company stock valued at $14,423,221 over the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on GS shares. Zacks Research raised The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen raised The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $738.6040 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $707.78 and a 200-day moving average of $621.03. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.38 and a 1 year high of $749.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $223.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 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 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 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The company had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.62 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share 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 paid a $4.00 dividend. 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 ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is currently 35.26%.

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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