Aurora Investment Counsel Decreases Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Aurora Investment Counsel lowered its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,492 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 811 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group accounts for 1.2% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 62.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,388,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 34.2% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 8,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 25.5% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,013 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,018,000 after acquiring an additional 2,442 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at $1,357,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on GS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $464.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research raised The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $513.00 to $561.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $496.44.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $495.11 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $492.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $459.74. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $289.36 and a 52-week high of $517.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $159.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.10. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. The business had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.60 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $3.00 dividend. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 46.86%.

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.