The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 2.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 182,006 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 3,712 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $75,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 623,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total value of $25,360,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $493.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Argus raised The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $490.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $479.72.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 2.2 %

GS stock traded up $10.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $503.02. The stock had a trading volume of 3,965,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,314,355. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $289.36 and a 1-year high of $506.59. The company has a fifty day moving average of $459.61 and a 200 day moving average of $418.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.37.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 8.17%. The company had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.79 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $3.00 dividend. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.95%.

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.