Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Boosts Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 4.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 575 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 24 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,800.0% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 38 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 170.0% during the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 54 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 46.9% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 72 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of GS opened at $779.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $235.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $753.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $653.41. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The business had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $4.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on GS. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $752.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $706.00 to $854.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $627.00 price objective (up previously from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $709.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total value of $6,754,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 106,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,755,196.68. The trade was a 7.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group 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.