IFM Investors Pty Ltd Lowers Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

IFM Investors Pty Ltd decreased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,018 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 292 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $32,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 170.0% in the 1st quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 54 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 326.7% in the 1st quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $763.67 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The firm has a market cap of $231.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.41. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $725.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $628.27. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $439.38 and a fifty-two week high of $765.62.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The business had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The company’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS 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, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $4.00 per share. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total transaction of $5,406,197.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total value of $6,754,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 106,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,755,196.68. The trade was a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GS. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price target on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $660.00.

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.