Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,553 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,346 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $34,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth about $2,138,031,000. Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $408,780,000. AGF Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2,429.6% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 485,375 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $343,524,000 after purchasing an additional 466,187 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 100,678.6% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 404,122 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $286,017,000 after purchasing an additional 403,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.2% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,895,752 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,345,924,000 after purchasing an additional 291,280 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 3.6%

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $919.82 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $275.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.33. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.38 and a fifty-two week high of $984.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $882.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $801.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.13.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $13.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $11.52 by $2.03. The business had revenue of $15.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.30 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 15.19% and a net margin of 13.73%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $11.95 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 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 Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $4.50 dividend. This represents a $18.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.00. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on GS. Argus boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $863.00 to $1,066.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. HSBC set a $604.00 price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $971.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $898.00 to $1,087.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, December 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $898.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Director David A. Viniar sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $965.33, for a total transaction of $43,439,850.00. Following the sale, the director owned 555,000 shares in the company, valued at $535,758,150. This trade represents a 7.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 68,186 shares of company stock valued at $65,820,670 over the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc is a global investment banking and financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1869 as a commercial paper business, the company has grown into a diversified financial institution that provides a broad range of services to corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. The firm is led by Chief Executive Officer David M. Solomon and operates across major financial centers worldwide.

Goldman Sachs’ core businesses include investment banking, global markets, asset and wealth management, and consumer banking.