The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS Shares Sold by Ascent Group LLC

Key Points

• Ascent Group LLC has decreased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.8%, now holding 3,256 shares valued at approximately $2.3 million.
• The Goldman Sachs Group's share price has seen upward adjustments from multiple analysts, with Evercore ISI raising its price target from $752 to $830 and Citigroup from $550 to $700.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $4.00 per share, reflecting a positive 2.0% yield on an annual basis.

Ascent Group LLC decreased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,256 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 705 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 102 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 40.1% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,105 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,198,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 575 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $281,000. Finally, Trinity Legacy Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 5,874 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $4,164,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GS shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $752.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $717.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 1.4%

GS opened at $790.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $755.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $655.73. The company has a market cap of $239.25 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.42. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.38 and a 1 year high of $825.25. 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 posted its 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 net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.62 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is 35.26%.

Insider Activity

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the 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 owned 18,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the 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 directly owned 106,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at $79,755,196.68. This trade represents a 7.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $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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