Loudon Investment Management LLC Buys New Shares in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Loudon Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 484 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 170.0% during the 1st quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 54 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% in the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE GS opened at $796.20 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $751.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $650.88. The firm has a market cap of $241.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.55, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.38 and a 1 year high of $825.25.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The company had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GS shares. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $690.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total value of $6,934,016.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 115,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,463,679.48. This represents a 7.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total value of $4,706,944.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 126,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,876,426.56. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828 over the last 90 days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.