Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 93.0% to a total of 12,174 shares, valued at approximately $6.65 million after acquiring an additional 5,867 shares.
• The Goldman Sachs Group reported earnings of $10.91 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $9.82, and its revenue increased by 14.5% year-over-year to $14.58 billion.
• The company's quarterly dividend was recently increased to $4.00 per share, resulting in an annual dividend of $16.00 and a yield of 2.1%.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 93.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,174 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,867 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $6,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,172,423,000 after buying an additional 3,970,467 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,766,238,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $944,334,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $897,185,000. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 214.1% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,294,084 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $741,018,000 after acquiring an additional 882,099 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:GS traded down $1.3930 on Wednesday, reaching $719.9870. 1,871,842 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,823,386. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $701.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $619.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick 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 $749.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.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 previous year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. 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 currently 26.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $627.00 price objective (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $660.00.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares in the company, valued at $89,876,426.56. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $4,310,079.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221 over the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.