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

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 11.7% during the first quarter, selling 8,018 shares and holding 60,582 shares valued at approximately $33 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase from $3.00 to $4.00 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.2%, payable on September 29th.
• Goldman Sachs reported earnings per share of $10.91, surpassing analysts' estimates of $9.82, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 14.5%.

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 11.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,582 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 8,018 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $33,095,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GS. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,172,423,000 after buying an additional 3,970,467 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at $1,766,238,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at $944,334,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth about $897,185,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 214.1% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,294,084 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $741,018,000 after acquiring an additional 882,099 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $627.00 price objective (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of GS stock opened at $738.6040 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $707.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $621.03. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $749.05. The company has a market capitalization of $223.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.38.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The business had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.62 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $4.00 dividend. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is 35.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group 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 stock was sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total value of $4,310,079.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 65,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,176,283.79. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total value 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 trade represents a 4.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,079 shares of company stock valued at $14,423,221 in the last 90 days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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