The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS Shares Bought by Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.

Key Points

• Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.5%, now owning 12,608 shares worth approximately $8.92 million.
• The Goldman Sachs Group recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $12.25, surpassing analysts' expectations of $10.27, and revenue of $11.33 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $4.00 per share, with an ex-dividend date on December 2nd, representing a 2.1% dividend yield.

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 5.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,608 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $8,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,989,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,279 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,125 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,254,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth $290,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $785.00 price objective for the company. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $720.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $770.73.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS opened at $750.71 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market cap of $227.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $765.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $670.40. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.38 and a 12-month high of $825.25.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The investment management company reported $12.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.27 by $1.98. The company had revenue of $11.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.68 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 14.79%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be given a $4.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.50%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 126,176 shares in the company, valued at $89,876,426.56. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

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.

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