The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS Shares Sold by Bard Financial Services Inc.

Bard Financial Services Inc. cut its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,990 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 115 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group makes up approximately 1.2% of Bard Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $9,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,172,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,467 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.2% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,804 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,820,677,000 after purchasing an additional 40,125 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at about $1,766,238,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,084,108 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,138,527,000 after purchasing an additional 120,272 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,963,836 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,124,532,000 after purchasing an additional 256,204 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GS shares. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $627.00 price objective (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Zacks Research raised The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 target price on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $660.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total value of $6,754,590.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 106,268 shares in the company, valued at $79,755,196.68. This trade represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828 in the last three months. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of GS opened at $780.87 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.38 and a 12 month high of $793.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $728.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $631.75. The firm has a market cap of $236.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.41.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The company had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.62 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $4.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 35.26%.

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.