Rockland Trust Co. Lowers Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Rockland Trust Co. decreased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 43.4%, selling 398 shares during the second quarter, leaving them with 520 shares valued at approximately $368,000.
• The Goldman Sachs Group recently declared a $4.00 quarterly dividend, an increase from the previous $3.00, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.0%.
• In the latest quarterly earnings report, Goldman Sachs surpassed expectations with an EPS of $10.91, exceeding the analysts' consensus of $9.82.

Rockland Trust Co. reduced its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 43.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 520 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 398 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,172,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,467 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at $1,766,238,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at $897,185,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 102.6% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 14,764 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $8,065,000 after purchasing an additional 585,084 shares during the period. Finally, Cohen Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5,559.2% in the first quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 470,220 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $256,876,000 after purchasing an additional 461,911 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and set a $627.00 price target (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 report on Thursday, July 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $665.00.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total value of $6,754,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 106,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,755,196.68. This trade represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 65,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS traded up $12.13 on Tuesday, reaching $817.69. 400,190 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,434,668. The firm has a market cap of $247.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.41. 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 Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.38 and a 12 month high of $825.25. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $739.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $640.52.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.62 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

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.