Sowell Financial Services LLC Grows Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Sowell Financial Services LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.7%, owning 6,225 shares valued at approximately $4.4 million after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the quarter.
• CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares valued at about $4.7 million, resulting in a 4.98% decrease in his position in the company.
• The Goldman Sachs Group announced a quarterly dividend increase to $4.00 per share, reflecting a positive change from the previous $3.00 dividend.

Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,225 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $4,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 170.0% in the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 54 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 326.7% in the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $627.00 price target (up previously from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $665.00.

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $6,934,016.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 115,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $86,463,679.48. This trade represents a 7.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.0%

GS stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $804.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,788,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,696,610. The company's 50-day moving average price is $738.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $638.81. The firm has a market cap of $243.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $809.66.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The Goldman Sachs Group's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $4.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is 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.