Continental Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Continental Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 31.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,293 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group makes up about 0.9% of Continental Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Continental Advisors LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GS. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth $1,903,374,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,102.4% during the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 810,836 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $366,780,000 after buying an additional 743,402 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,184,196 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $842,597,000 after buying an additional 464,954 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7,932.6% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 444,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $200,959,000 after buying an additional 438,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 878.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 397,082 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $179,608,000 after acquiring an additional 356,512 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total value of $1,770,965.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at $6,119,949.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total value of $5,050,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,287,748. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $498.43 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $491.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $455.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $160.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.36 and a 1-year high of $517.26.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.10. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.60 billion. Analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.5 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 Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wolfe Research raised The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $464.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.44.

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.