Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 87 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC decreased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,909 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $7,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,584,202 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,761,576,000 after purchasing an additional 161,500 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,172,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,467 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,053,614,000 after buying an additional 687,711 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,292,679 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,885,454,000 after buying an additional 428,502 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $1,766,238,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on GS shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $649.29.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GS traded down $1.70 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $706.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 121,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,357,688. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $437.37 and a 12-month high of $726.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $647.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $601.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The business had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 12.37%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $4.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.44%.

The Goldman Sachs Group 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.