The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Bought by Optas LLC

Optas LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,072 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Optas LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Morningstar Investment Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth $350,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,865 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. First Dallas Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 286.0% during the third quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 4,562 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 60.6% in the third quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 4,703 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.1% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 683,923 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $221,295,000 after purchasing an additional 26,768 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GS shares. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $479.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $443.78.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS stock traded up $6.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $452.32. 3,839,657 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,900,364. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $449.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.13. The company has a market cap of $145.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.36 and a 1 year high of $471.48.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $2.75 per share. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 stock was sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total value of $25,360,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 623,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $269,475,456.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.