Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Trims Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC decreased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 8.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 881 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 82 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,800.0% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 38 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 46.9% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 72 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% during the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares in the company, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $47,176,283.79. This trade represents a 8.37% 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 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $796.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $756.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $657.99. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.38 and a 52 week high of $825.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $241.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.42.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS 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 net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $4.00 dividend. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on GS shares. HSBC upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $706.00 to $854.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $717.00.

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.