Norway Savings Bank Increases Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Norway Savings Bank raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 17.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,410 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the quarter. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GS. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% during the first 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. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $452.32 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $449.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $410.39. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $145.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.39. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.36 and a 12-month high of $471.48.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.54 by $3.04. The company had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 8.17%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.59 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 42.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,299,679.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. HSBC boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $443.78.

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.