The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS Shares Sold by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. reduced its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,253 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 597 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $5,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 28.6% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 524,296 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $286,418,000 after buying an additional 116,535 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,379,900 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,392,124,000 after acquiring an additional 157,473 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 161.8% in the 1st quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $9,596,000. Finally, Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Trecaso Financial Group LLC now owns 21,534 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $15,240,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $843.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $750.00 price target (up previously from $625.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $720.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $779.50.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS opened at $786.03 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $825.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $778.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $700.04.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $79,755,196.68. This represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate 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.