Tortoise Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 708 The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Tortoise Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 708 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Audent Global Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Audent Global Asset Management LLC now owns 5,238 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,604,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. Oak Grove Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,890,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 141,990 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $124,809,000 after buying an additional 3,653 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 11,944 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $10,499,000 after buying an additional 3,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 92.4% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 14,298 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $12,568,000 after buying an additional 6,867 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting The Goldman Sachs Group

Here are the key news stories impacting The Goldman Sachs Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs was among the financial giants receiving a “Buy” growth grade, reinforcing the view that its earnings growth, capital-markets franchise and strategic positioning remain attractive. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs lead as most financial giants earn Buy growth grades
• Positive Sentiment: The firm is reportedly expanding into India’s government share-sale market. Greater participation in equity offerings could create additional investment-banking revenue and deepen Goldman’s presence in a fast-growing market. Goldman Sachs expands into India’s government share sale market
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman agreed to pay up to $2.25 billion for NEOS Investments, the issuer of high-income ETFs. The acquisition supports Goldman’s asset-management and wealth-products strategy, although investors will monitor the price paid and integration execution. Goldman Sachs acquisition of NEOS Investments
• Neutral Sentiment: Goldman research said gold could exceed its $4,900 year-end forecast amid options demand, Western investor buying and central-bank purchases. The call may benefit the firm’s commodities and trading franchise, but changing interest-rate expectations could increase market volatility and forecasting risk. Gold could top Goldman’s forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman strategists described July as one of the sharpest hedge-fund de-grossing episodes of the past decade, with hedge funds posting an unusually weak month relative to the S&P 500. Continued de-risking could pressure trading activity and investment-banking sentiment across Wall Street. Goldman Sachs hedge funds worst month versus S&P 500

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GS. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $1,150.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. HSBC upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $891.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,062.86.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $1,041.35 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1,053.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $964.40. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $718.58 and a 52-week high of $1,153.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $303.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.30.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The investment management company reported $20.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.47 by $6.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 19.16% and a net margin of 15.53%.The company had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 39.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 68.89 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $5.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.50. This represents a $20.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 27.78%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Profile

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc is a global investment banking and financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1869 as a commercial paper business, the company has grown into a diversified financial institution that provides a broad range of services to corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. The firm is led by Chief Executive Officer David M. Solomon and operates across major financial centers worldwide.

Goldman Sachs’ core businesses include investment banking, global markets, asset and wealth management, and consumer banking.