Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Buys Shares of 7,368 The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,368 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,333,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% during the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First United Bank & Trust bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $490.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.94.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $479.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $489.33 and a 200-day moving average of $447.76. The company has a market cap of $154.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.36 and a 52 week high of $517.26.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.52 by $0.10. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.60 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.07 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 46.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total value of $1,770,965.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,013,500 shares of company stock worth $32,181,365. Corporate insiders own 0.54% 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.