Raymond James Financial Inc. Decreases Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.4%, holding approximately 1,010,684 shares valued at $552.13 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• The Goldman Sachs Group reported strong earnings, with $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations, alongside a revenue of $14.58 billion, a 14.5% increase year-over-year.
• The firm announced a dividend increase to $4.00 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous $3.00, and is set to yield 2.2% annually.

Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,010,684 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 80,519 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.33% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $552,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GS. King Wealth Management Group raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.8% during the first quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,086 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $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% in the first quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,877 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,211,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.6% in the first quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 777 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.9% in the first quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 2,330 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Register Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the first quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC now owns 805 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE GS traded down $9.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $721.51. 1,856,069 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,829,511. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $697.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $618.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $749.05.

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, topping 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 net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The business's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $4.00 per share. 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 is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.44%.

Insider Activity

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total transaction of $5,406,197.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,079 shares of company stock valued at $14,423,221. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on GS. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and issued a $627.00 price target (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $660.00.

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.