The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Sold by GQG Partners LLC

Key Points

• GQG Partners LLC sold 91.4% of its shares in The Goldman Sachs Group, reducing its holdings to 420 shares valued at $230,000.
• The Goldman Sachs Group reported a strong earnings performance, with $10.91 earnings per share, exceeding expectations and marking a 14.5% revenue increase year-over-year.
• The firm announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $3.00 to $4.00 per share, representing a 2.2% yield and a payout ratio of 26.44%.

GQG Partners LLC reduced its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 91.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 420 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 4,450 shares during the quarter. GQG Partners LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $230,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GS. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth $583,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 3,817 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,186,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 7,837 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $4,488,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 3.3%

GS opened at $743.06 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $686.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $615.52. The company has a market cap of $224.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.38. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.38 and a 1 year high of $748.14. 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 (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.62 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $4.00 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 26.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at $89,876,426.56. This trade represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total transaction of $4,310,079.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 20,079 shares of company stock valued at $14,423,221. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on GS shares. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.