Mechanics Bank Trust Department Sells 701 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Mechanics Bank Trust Department has reduced its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.4%, currently holding 3,857 shares valued at approximately $2.73 million.
• Goldman Sachs reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $10.91, exceeding expectations, with revenues of $14.58 billion, marking a 14.5% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a dividend of $4.00 per share, reflecting a yearly increase from its previous dividend of $3.00, with a 2.0% yield.

Mechanics Bank Trust Department decreased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 15.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,857 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 701 shares during the period. Mechanics Bank Trust Department's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. King Wealth Management Group boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,086 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 2,020 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.3% during the first quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 5,877 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,211,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 777 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped 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 report on Thursday, July 17th. Zacks Research cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. HSBC reiterated a "reduce" rating and set a $627.00 target price (up previously from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price target on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $665.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

NYSE GS traded up $0.20 on Monday, reaching $805.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,150,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,696,610. 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 stock has a market cap of $243.75 billion, a PE ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's 50 day moving average is $739.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $640.52. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $809.66.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The business had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.62 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 18,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,469,493.60. This represents a 28.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at $89,876,426.56. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

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.