Stance Capital LLC Purchases 7,004 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Stance Capital LLC significantly increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 700,400% during the first quarter, now owning 7,005 shares valued at approximately $3.83 million.
• Several institutional investors raised their stakes, with Talon Private Wealth LLC increasing theirs by 5,113.6% in the same period, demonstrating growing confidence in Goldman Sachs.
• The Goldman Sachs Group announced a quarterly dividend of $4.00 per share, an increase from the previous $3.00, reflecting a 2.2% yield and a payout ratio of 35.26%.

Stance Capital LLC lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 700,400.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,005 shares of the investment management company's stock after buying an additional 7,004 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group comprises 2.7% of Stance Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Stance Capital LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $3,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GS. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 valued at $2,172,423,000 after buying an additional 3,970,467 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at $1,766,238,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at $897,185,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 14,764 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $8,065,000 after buying an additional 585,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5,559.2% in the 1st quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 470,220 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $256,876,000 after buying an additional 461,911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GS shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and set a $627.00 target price (up previously from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE:GS traded up $21.82 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $763.67. The stock had a trading volume of 2,609,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,569,345. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $765.62. The stock has a market cap of $231.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.41. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $725.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $628.27. 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 (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The business had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.62 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $4.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. 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 (DPR) is presently 35.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group 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 directly owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total transaction of $6,754,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 106,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $79,755,196.68. The trade was a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

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.