Sunbelt Securities Inc. Decreases Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lowered its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 39.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 858 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 551 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of GS stock opened at $490.41 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $492.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $460.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $158.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36. 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 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 46.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $493.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $464.00 to $472.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $513.00 to $561.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $496.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 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 $505.04, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 12,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,287,748. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at $6,119,949.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.