Norway Savings Bank Boosts Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Norway Savings Bank increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 116.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,967 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pictet Asset Management SA increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 141,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $46,176,000 after buying an additional 1,491 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 37,848 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $12,996,000 after purchasing an additional 5,725 shares during the period. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,456 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 12,957 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,238,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Aviva PLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 41.3% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 85,716 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 25,038 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 1,145,486 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,099,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $587,665,868.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 1,145,486 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on 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 $587,665,868.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 10,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.71, for a total transaction of $3,457,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 128,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,590,367.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,159,686 shares of company stock valued at $18,390,027 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GS. Odeon Capital Group upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $355.75 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 13th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $415.00 to $398.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Atlantic Securities upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $351.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $483.00 to $461.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $396.04.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of GS stock traded down $2.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $342.54. 3,063,887 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,469,045. The company has a market capitalization of $112.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.61, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.40. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $287.75 and a 12-month high of $389.58. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $335.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $330.72. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The investment management company reported $3.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.25 by ($0.17). The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.27% and a net margin of 9.74%. The business had revenue of $10.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 25.55 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 31st will be paid a $2.75 dividend. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.93%.

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.