GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Makes New Investment in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,032 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 135.8% in the 1st quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 24,508 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $13,388,000 after purchasing an additional 14,114 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 20.4% during the first quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 76,532 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $41,809,000 after buying an additional 12,959 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,551,000. AM Investment Strategies LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.8% in the first quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 15,580 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $8,511,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.7% in the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 13,214 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $7,219,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $627.00 target price (up previously from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $660.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total transaction of $4,310,079.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 65,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of GS stock opened at $728.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $223.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.35. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $437.37 and a 1 year high of $729.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $657.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $605.76.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.62 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $4.00 per share. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. 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.