Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 357 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,391 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $44,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,012,564 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,319,470,000 after buying an additional 338,181 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.8% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,693,331 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,842,192,000 after buying an additional 412,383 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,518,035 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,128,693,000 after buying an additional 152,474 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,195,203 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,004,153,000 after buying an additional 27,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,953,461 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,910,897,000 after buying an additional 274,989 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $269,475,456.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $445.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $143.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $448.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $409.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $289.36 and a fifty-two week high of $471.48.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The firm had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.59 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $478.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $486.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. HSBC upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $410.00 to $430.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $443.78.

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.