Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Grows Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.9%, now owning 43,970 shares valued at approximately $24 million.
• CEO David M. Solomon and EVP John F.W. Rogers sold significant shares of Goldman Sachs stock, with Solomon's sale decreasing his position by 4.98%.
• The Goldman Sachs Group reported earnings of $10.91 per share, exceeding consensus estimates, along with a 14.5% year-over-year revenue increase.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,970 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,247 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $24,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GS. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,970,467 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,292,679 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,885,454,000 after buying an additional 428,502 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at about $1,766,238,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,126,762 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,217,844,000 after acquiring an additional 20,322 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,963,836 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,124,532,000 after acquiring an additional 256,204 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. This represents a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS traded up $2.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $721.76. 1,275,362 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,022,910. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.38 and a fifty-two week high of $737.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $681.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $614.35. The firm has a market cap of $218.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.62 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given 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 dividend yield of 2.2%. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is currently 26.44%.

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.