American Trust Sells 124 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

American Trust lowered its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 17.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 580 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 124 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total value of $25,360,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,119,949.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,013,500 shares of company stock worth $32,181,365 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 5.9 %

GS stock traded down $29.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $470.64. The company had a trading volume of 6,115,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,606,533. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $151.76 billion, a PE ratio of 18.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $469.30 and a 200 day moving average of $428.76. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.36 and a 12 month high of $517.26.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GS. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Argus upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $495.94.

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.