Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $53.54 Million Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 31.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,008 shares of the investment management company's stock after selling 45,926 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $53,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GS. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $1,603,315,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $944,334,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $624,844,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 14,007.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,059,716 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $606,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052,204 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS stock opened at $635.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $437.37 and a 1 year high of $672.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.05 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.32. The company's 50-day moving average is $578.87 and its 200-day moving average is $584.22.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $12.57 by $1.55. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.86% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The company had revenue of $15.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $11.58 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. Oppenheimer cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $600.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $560.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $558.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $593.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John B. Hess acquired 3,904 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $511.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,997,598.72. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,997,598.72. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About The Goldman Sachs Group

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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