Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. Reduces Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,504 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the period. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,713,325,000 after acquiring an additional 7,475,140 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,042,640 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,991,772,000 after purchasing an additional 161,133 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,780,338 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,257,602,000 after purchasing an additional 77,700 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,117,311 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $957,684,000 after purchasing an additional 68,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 998,136 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $494,187,000 after buying an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $602.78 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $189.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $334.87 and a 52-week high of $607.15. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $529.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $494.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total value of $3,826,245.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,358,685.04. The trade was a 10.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.00.

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.