Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Increases Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,057 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 303 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% in the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $498.43 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.36 and a 12-month high of $517.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The company has a market cap of $160.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $491.96 and a 200 day moving average of $454.73.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.60 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.5 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $464.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $490.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.44.

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