Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 1,257 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 23.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,188 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 1,257 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $583,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 3,817 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,186,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn FI LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $844,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 target price on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $649.29.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of GS traded up $2.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $708.31. 1,923,088 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,364,984. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $437.37 and a 52 week high of $726.00. The company has a market cap of $217.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $644.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $599.95. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.62 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS 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 represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is an increase 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.85%.

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.