The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1%, owning 14,448 shares worth approximately $10.23 million after selling 316 shares.
• Institutional investors collectively own 71.21% of Goldman Sachs, with various firms adjusting their holdings, including Brighton Jones LLC increasing its stake by 17.1%.
• The Goldman Sachs Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $4.00 per share, up from the previous $3.00, representing an annualized yield of 2.0% and a payout ratio of 35.26%.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,448 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 316 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $10,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GS. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake 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 during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $583,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 6,513 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,729,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,154 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total transaction of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total value of $4,310,079.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GS shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Zacks Research downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. 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. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $665.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of GS opened at $806.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $244.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.41. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $741.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $641.68.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The business had revenue of $14.58 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.62 earnings per share. Analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued 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 is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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