Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Sells 765 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 12.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,513 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 765 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 338,181 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 274,989 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at $1,903,374,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $490.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five equities 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $496.44.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $6,287,748. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,013,500 shares of company stock worth $32,181,365. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $488.57 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $489.83 and a 200-day moving average of $449.31. The company has a market capitalization of $157.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.36. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.36 and a 1 year high of $517.26. 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 announced its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 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 the consensus estimate of $12.60 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.49 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.86%.

The Goldman Sachs Group 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.