The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV cut its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 95.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 469 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 9,415 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,780,338 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,257,602,000 after purchasing an additional 77,700 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,117,311 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $957,684,000 after purchasing an additional 68,141 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 998,136 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $494,187,000 after purchasing an additional 4,007 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 34.8% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 843,646 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $381,598,000 after buying an additional 217,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,102.4% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 810,836 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $366,780,000 after buying an additional 743,402 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $593.54 on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $334.55 and a 12-month high of $607.15. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $518.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $489.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market cap of $186.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on GS. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $535.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,359,435.50. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.