Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 2.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,033 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 25 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% during the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS opened at $588.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $184.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $513.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $486.51. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $334.55 and a 1 year high of $607.15.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The business had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $614.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $527.63.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.