Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Lowers Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC trimmed its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,653 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 72 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $904,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 212.8% in the first quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 11,503 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $6,284,000 after purchasing an additional 7,826 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co. grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.5% during the first quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 1,167 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $638,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Betterment LLC grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.0% during the first quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 595 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.9% during the first quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 2,839 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,551,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth approximately $550,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GS. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $745.48 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.41. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.38 and a 1-year high of $753.33. The company’s fifty day moving average is $716.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $623.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The company had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS 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 given a dividend of $4.00 per share. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total transaction of $4,706,944.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,876,426.56. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total transaction of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,469,493.60. This represents a 28.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.