Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Reduces Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,604,822 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 254,178 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,135,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $25,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,800.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 38 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% during the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total value of $6,934,016.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 115,268 shares in the company, valued at $86,463,679.48. The trade was a 7.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the subject of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas Exane increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $685.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. HSBC lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $762.00 to $805.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $850.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $720.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $786.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE GS opened at $790.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.11. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $439.38 and a one year high of $841.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $785.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $709.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $237.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.41.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The investment management company reported $12.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.27 by $1.98. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 13.18%.The company had revenue of $15.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.40 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be given a $4.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 32.50%.

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.