Evernest Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Evernest Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 12.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,169 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the period. The Goldman Sachs Group makes up approximately 0.7% of Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 429 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 294 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% in the second quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 2,485 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Financial Corp CA boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% in the second quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 3,597 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,546,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total value of $6,934,016.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 115,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,463,679.48. The trade was a 7.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the business’s 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 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. Insiders sold a total of 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828 over the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GS. Zacks Research downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $843.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $785.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $752.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $765.07.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS stock opened at $768.20 on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $439.38 and a one year high of $825.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $763.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $666.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $232.55 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.42.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The investment management company reported $12.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.27 by $1.98. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 14.79%. The firm had revenue of $11.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be issued a $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s 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.