DnB Asset Management AS Sells 22,187 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

DnB Asset Management AS decreased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 16.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,522 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 22,187 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $35,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $66,000. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,505.1% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 41,300 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $13,633,000 after buying an additional 38,727 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.5% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 118,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $39,153,000 after buying an additional 18,540 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 79.4% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 827 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 118.3% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 310 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Societe Generale downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 10th. Atlantic Securities raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $351.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $410.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $396.04.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of GS traded up $5.47 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $340.45. The company had a trading volume of 521,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,452,314. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $287.75 and a one year high of $389.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $334.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $330.90. The company has a market capitalization of $112.24 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 19th. The investment management company reported $3.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.25 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $10.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.61 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 9.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.73 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 25.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 30th. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.50. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.93%.

Insider Activity

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 4,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.28, for a total value of $1,496,376.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 124,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,457,330.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 4,200 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $356.28, for a total transaction of $1,496,376.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 124,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,457,330.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 1,145,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.73, for a total value of $13,436,550.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 50,099,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $587,665,868.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,159,686 shares of company stock worth $18,390,027. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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 resale agreements.