Czech National Bank Boosts Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 64,331 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $31,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,516,093 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,127,944,000 after buying an additional 150,532 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,953,461 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,910,897,000 after buying an additional 274,989 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,903,374,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,780,338 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,257,602,000 after buying an additional 77,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,293,691 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $884,837,000 after buying an additional 81,168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GS. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $548.00 to $577.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $497.56.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $486.10 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $289.36 and a one year high of $517.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $492.37 and its 200 day moving average is $460.86. The stock has a market cap of $156.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36. 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 announced 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 return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. The company had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.60 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.43 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $3.00 dividend. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, 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 owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, 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 owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 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 currently owned by company insiders.

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.