Montecito Bank & Trust Increases Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Montecito Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,363 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $987,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 14,810 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $6,186,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 11,679 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,878,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 32.4% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 695 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 25,689 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $10,730,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS opened at $457.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $147.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.39. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $443.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $405.92. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.79 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a $2.75 dividend. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GS. Edward Jones began coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $504.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, HSBC boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $440.57.

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.