WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 3.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,928 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 725 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group comprises 5.4% of WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $17,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.5% during the third quarter. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC now owns 879 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.2% during the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 4,537 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,613,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. TruWealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $21,502,000. Finally, Greenfield Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $850.00 to $870.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $843.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $756.00 to $810.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $787.06.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 1.1%

GS opened at $879.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $263.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.38 and a 12 month high of $919.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $803.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $749.05.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The investment management company reported $12.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.27 by $1.98. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 13.18%.The firm had revenue of $15.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.40 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $4.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.50%.

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.