Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Raises Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 103,264 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 481 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $46,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Apexium Financial LP grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 5,672 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,188,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 62.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,388,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 34.2% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 8,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after buying an additional 2,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,416,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on GS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $461.00 to $464.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.94.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,013,500 shares of company stock valued at $32,181,365. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $510.25 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $485.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $444.43. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.36 and a 12-month high of $517.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market cap of $161.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.37.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.52 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.60 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.07 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

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.