Wedbush Securities Inc. Trims Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Wedbush Securities Inc. decreased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,775 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 519 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $3,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Apexium Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 5,672 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,188,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 62.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,388,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 34.2% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 8,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $5,416,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GS shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $493.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $513.00 to $561.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $490.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.94.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS stock opened at $483.00 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $489.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $448.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.36. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.36 and a 12-month high of $517.26.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.52 by $0.10. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. The business had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.49 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $3.00 dividend. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.48%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.86%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total value of $5,050,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,287,748. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $5,050,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,450 shares in the company, valued at $6,287,748. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,013,500 shares of company stock worth $32,181,365 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.