Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Cuts Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. decreased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 276,656 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 40,739 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $125,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GS. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,012,564 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,319,470,000 after buying an additional 338,181 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,516,093 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,127,944,000 after buying an additional 150,532 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,895,928 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,044,980,000 after acquiring an additional 141,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth about $1,903,374,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of GS stock opened at $498.28 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $160.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $491.96 and its 200-day moving average is $454.28. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.36 and a 1 year high of $517.26.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.73 billion during 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 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 12,450 shares in the company, valued at $6,287,748. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $493.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $490.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $475.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.