Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Has $2.71 Million Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,824 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 319 shares during the quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 40,225.6% in the 2nd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 33,067 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $23,403,000 after buying an additional 32,985 shares in the last quarter. D. Scott Neal Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $212,000. Webster Bank N. A. raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 761 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,464 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,744,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldstone Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 1,531 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.5%

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $780.87 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $728.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $631.75. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.38 and a fifty-two week high of $793.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The business had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $4.00 per share. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.26%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total value of $6,934,016.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 115,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,463,679.48. The trade was a 7.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $660.00.

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.