WMG Financial Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 325 The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• WMG Financial Advisors LLC acquired 325 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in Q2, valued at approximately $230,000.
• Goldman Sachs recently increased its quarterly dividend from $3.00 to $4.00, representing a 2.1% yield.
• Several research firms have raised their price targets for Goldman Sachs, with Evercore ISI increasing it from $752.00 to $830.00, highlighting a positive market outlook.

WMG Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 325 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in 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. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,856 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,708 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,279 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GS. Evercore ISI upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $752.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set a "market perform" rating and a $785.00 target price for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $725.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $727.31.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $779.60 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.38 and a 1-year high of $825.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business's fifty day moving average price is $759.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $661.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.42.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.62 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total value of $6,754,590.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 106,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at $79,755,196.68. This trade represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

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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