Avanza Fonder AB Lowers Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Avanza Fonder AB lessened its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 12.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 20,745 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 3,003 shares during the quarter. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $14,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 6,225 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,406,000 after buying an additional 604 shares during the period. Westfuller Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $793,000. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Wealth Management Partners LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Management Partners LLC now owns 1,183 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Park Capital LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Congress Park Capital LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total transaction of $6,754,590.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 106,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,755,196.68. The trade was a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total transaction of $4,310,079.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GS shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $665.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $804.45 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $243.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $738.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $638.30. 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 Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.38 and a fifty-two week high of $809.66.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion for 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 was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $4.00 per share. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

About The Goldman Sachs Group

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.