Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,371 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 697 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 189,162 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $72,973,000 after acquiring an additional 1,998 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 22,882 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $8,827,000 after purchasing an additional 5,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 1,133 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE GS opened at $484.70 on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.36 and a 12 month high of $517.26. The company has a market capitalization of $156.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $491.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $453.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 10.56%. Equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. 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. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 46.86%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 12,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,287,748. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on GS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $464.00 to $472.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $496.44.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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.