Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 6,539 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 157,108 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,539 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.05% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $85,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prudential PLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 34,221 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,695,000 after acquiring an additional 9,516 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 98,392 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $53,703,000 after acquiring an additional 6,660 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 53.7% in the 1st quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 208,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $113,728,000 after acquiring an additional 72,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowpoint Investment Partners Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $546,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS stock opened at $743.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $224.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.38. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $439.38 and a 1 year high of $748.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $686.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $615.52.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $4.00 per share. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $660.00.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total transaction of $4,706,944.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 126,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,876,426.56. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total value of $4,310,079.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at $47,176,283.79. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221. Corporate insiders own 0.55% 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.