Cetera Investment Advisers Purchases 6,327 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Key Points

• Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.1%, owning 84,520 shares valued at approximately $46.17 million following the purchase of an additional 6,327 shares in Q1.
• Equities research analysts have issued mixed ratings for The Goldman Sachs Group, with one sell rating, twelve holds, and five buy ratings, along with a consensus price target of $660.00.
• The Goldman Sachs Group declared a quarterly dividend of $4.00, an increase from the previous $3.00, which signifies a strong commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,520 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,327 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $46,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 170.0% during the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 54 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 326.7% during the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. This represents a 28.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the company'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 owned 126,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,876,426.56. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Daiwa America cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and set a $627.00 price objective (up previously from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $560.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price target on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $731.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 368,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,615,023. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.12. The business's fifty day moving average price is $662.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $607.95. The firm has a market cap of $224.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.35. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $437.37 and a one year high of $737.88.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 12.37%. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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 company 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. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. 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.