Avanza Fonder AB Lowers Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Avanza Fonder AB reduced its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 12.6%, selling 3,003 shares in the second quarter, leaving them with 20,745 shares valued at approximately $14.68 million.
• The Goldman Sachs Group reported $10.91 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $9.82 and showing a 14.5% year-over-year revenue increase to $14.58 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $4.00, up from the previous $3.00, reflecting a healthy dividend payout ratio of 35.26%.

Avanza Fonder AB lessened its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,745 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 3,003 shares during the period. Avanza Fonder AB's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $14,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 617,504.5% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 29,058,291 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $20,566,005,000 after acquiring an additional 29,053,586 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,172,423,000 after acquiring an additional 3,970,467 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,766,238,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter worth approximately $897,185,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 102.6% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 14,764 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $8,065,000 after purchasing an additional 585,084 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total value of $6,754,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 106,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at $79,755,196.68. This represents a 7.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GS shares. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. HSBC restated a "reduce" rating and issued a $627.00 price objective (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $665.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of GS traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $805.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,121,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,438,478. The stock's 50 day moving average is $739.87 and its 200 day moving average is $640.52. The firm has a market cap of $243.75 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 1 year low of $439.38 and a 1 year high of $825.25.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $4.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is 35.26%.

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.