The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS Position Increased by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 9.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,408 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 554 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $4,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GS. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,800.0% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 38 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 46.9% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 72 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% during the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total value of $6,934,016.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 115,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,463,679.48. This trade represents a 7.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on GS. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $762.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $756.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “neutral” rating and set a $843.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $779.50.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $788.83 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $439.38 and a 12-month high of $825.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $772.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $688.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.42.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The investment management company reported $12.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.27 by $1.98. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 14.79%. The company had revenue of $11.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be given a $4.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.50%.

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.