Nelson Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Nelson Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 700 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 40 shares during the period. Nelson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total value of $5,050,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,287,748. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total value of $5,050,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,450 shares in the company, valued at $6,287,748. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total value of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at $6,119,949.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $464.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $513.00 to $561.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned 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 $496.44.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $471.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $151.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.36. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $289.36 and a one year high of $517.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $489.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $450.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.60 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 46.86%.

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.