Tranquility Partners LLC Trims Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Tranquility Partners LLC reduced its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 33.8%, selling 1,325 shares, leaving them with a total of 2,599 shares worth approximately $1.84 million.
• Insiders, including COO John E. Waldron and CEO David M. Solomon, recently sold significant amounts of stock, indicating a 7.81% and 4.98% decrease in their respective holdings.
• Equity analysts have increased their target prices for Goldman Sachs, with HSBC raising it from $652 to $677, reflecting optimism about the company's growth and performance prospects.

Tranquility Partners LLC reduced its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 33.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,599 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 1,325 shares during the quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,800.0% in the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 38 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 46.9% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 72 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% in the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total value of $6,754,590.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 106,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $79,755,196.68. This represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total transaction 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 approximately $89,876,426.56. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HSBC upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $752.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Citigroup upped their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $750.00 to $843.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $785.00 target price for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $727.31.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $765.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $231.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.42. The firm's fifty day moving average is $760.79 and its 200 day moving average is $662.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $825.25.

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 company had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $4.00 dividend. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is currently 35.26%.

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.

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