VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $93.48 Million in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 132,076 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,477,000. The Goldman Sachs Group accounts for 0.6% of VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GS. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 28.6% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 524,296 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $286,418,000 after acquiring an additional 116,535 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at $321,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 161.8% in the 1st quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 41.5% during the 1st quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 49,800 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $27,205,000 after purchasing an additional 14,600 shares during the period. Finally, Terra Nova Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth $1,643,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total transaction of $4,310,079.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total transaction of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,469,493.60. This represents a 28.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828 over the last 90 days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $720.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $854.00 to $828.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Zacks Research lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $770.73.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $750.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. 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 $227.25 billion, a PE ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $765.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $670.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $11.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.68 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 14.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.40 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $4.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 32.50%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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 financing under securities to resale agreements.