The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Acquired by WestEnd Advisors LLC

WestEnd Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 89,261 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group makes up 1.1% of WestEnd Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. WestEnd Advisors LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $44,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,102.4% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 810,836 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $366,780,000 after buying an additional 743,402 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7,932.6% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 444,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $200,959,000 after purchasing an additional 438,754 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 878.8% in the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 397,082 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $179,608,000 after purchasing an additional 356,512 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth approximately $137,134,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.0% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,801,395 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $752,425,000 after purchasing an additional 274,509 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,359,435.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS traded up $4.59 on Wednesday, hitting $528.87. 47,873 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,188,628. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $501.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $475.59. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $300.70 and a one year high of $540.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $167.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.39, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The business had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.47 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.14 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on GS. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $524.69.

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.