Meritage Portfolio Management Trims Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Meritage Portfolio Management lowered its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,382 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 212 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $8,403,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,038,057 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $594,412,000 after acquiring an additional 138,198 shares during the period. Baxter Bros Inc. lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 15,506 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $8,879,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 5,743 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Terra Nova Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at $1,643,000. Finally, Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 41.5% in the first quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 49,800 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $27,205,000 after purchasing an additional 14,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John B. Hess bought 3,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $511.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,997,598.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,904 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,598.72. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $715.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $609.88 and a 200 day moving average of $589.61. The firm has a market cap of $219.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.35. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $437.37 and a one year high of $718.73.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.57 by $1.55. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.86% and a return on equity of 13.76%. The business had revenue of $15.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $11.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $560.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $630.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $603.73.

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.