Swedbank AB Increases Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 368,750 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $201,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 326.7% during the first quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 106,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,755,196.68. This trade represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the firm’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 owned 65,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828 in the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $785.23 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.38 and a 12-month high of $793.17. The stock has a market cap of $237.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $727.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $630.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $4.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 2.0%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.26%.

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.