SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. Cuts Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. cut its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 2.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,521 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 32 shares during the quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,800.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 38 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 170.0% in the 1st quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 54 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% in the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GS shares. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $725.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Citigroup raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $709.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total transaction of $6,754,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 106,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,755,196.68. The trade was a 7.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total value of $4,706,944.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 126,176 shares in the company, valued at $89,876,426.56. This trade represents a 4.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $788.44 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $825.25. The firm has a market cap of $238.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $752.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $651.83.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The business had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $4.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.