Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Makes New $3.33 Million Investment in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 7,368 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,333,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Apexium Financial LP boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 5,672 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,188,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 62.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,632,000 after buying an additional 2,428 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth about $1,388,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 34.2% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 8,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,448,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares during the period. Finally, Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,416,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total value of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,013,500 shares of company stock worth $32,181,365 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $559.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $461.00 to $464.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.94.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 1.7 %

GS opened at $479.64 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $289.36 and a one year high of $517.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $154.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $489.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $447.76.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.52 by $0.10. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. The business had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. Equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.07 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 Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.86%.

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.