Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Sells 981 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Key Points

• Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. reduced its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.4%, owning 12,305 shares valued at approximately $6.72 million as of the end of the most recent quarter.
• Recent insider trading activity showed that two executives, EVP John F.W. Rogers and CFO Denis P. Coleman, sold significant amounts of stock, resulting in an 8.37% and 28.64% decrease in their respective holdings.
• The Goldman Sachs Group announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $3.00 to $4.00 per share, reflecting a favorable move for shareholders and a yield of 2.20%.

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. decreased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,305 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 981 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group comprises 1.6% of Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $6,722,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,038,057 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $594,412,000 after purchasing an additional 138,198 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $321,000. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 41.5% in the first quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 49,800 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $27,205,000 after acquiring an additional 14,600 shares during the last quarter. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,643,000. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.2% in the first quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 3,271 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,787,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $4.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $726.61. 1,257,022 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,615,635. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $665.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $608.80. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $437.37 and a 1-year high of $737.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The company had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $4.00 dividend. 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 2.20%. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is 26.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the topic of a number of recent research 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Daiwa America lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $660.00.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total value of $4,310,079.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 65,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,176,283.79. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

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.