Panagora Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 746.4% during the first quarter, acquiring a total of 17,995 shares valued at approximately $9.83 million.
• Insider trading disclosures reveal that CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares and CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the company, representing significant decreases in their ownership.
• The Goldman Sachs Group announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $4.00 per share, marking a rise from the previous $3.00 and providing a yield of 2.1%.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 746.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,995 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,869 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $9,830,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. King Wealth Management Group grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.8% in 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 period. Wynn Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $3,211,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $440,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,273,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total value of $6,934,016.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 115,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,463,679.48. This trade represents a 7.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total value of $4,310,079.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GS shares. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $627.00 target price (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 target price on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of GS stock traded up $17.52 on Thursday, reaching $748.08. 1,777,429 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,488,824. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $721.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $625.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.41. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.38 and a 52 week high of $753.33.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The business had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.62 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $4.00 per share. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. 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.