Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Key Points

• Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. invested approximately $656,000 in 1,200 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter.
• CEO David M. Solomon and CFO Denis P. Coleman both sold significant amounts of shares in recent transactions, indicating a potential decrease in insider ownership.
• The Goldman Sachs Group declared an increased quarterly dividend of $4.00 per share, up from the previous $3.00, reflecting a positive change in their financial position.

Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,200 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $656,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,172,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,467 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $1,766,238,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth $944,334,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 214.1% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,294,084 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $741,018,000 after acquiring an additional 882,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $8,065,000 after acquiring an additional 585,084 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total transaction of $4,706,944.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 126,176 shares in the company, valued at $89,876,426.56. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,469,493.60. This represents a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. 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 note on Thursday, July 17th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued 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, Wall Street Zen raised The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE GS opened at $721.76 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $737.88. The business's 50-day moving average price is $681.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $614.35. The firm has a market cap of $218.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.38.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research 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 business 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 represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is 26.44%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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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