Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Reduces Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lowered its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 26.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,207 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,515 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 617,504.5% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 29,058,291 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $20,566,005,000 after purchasing an additional 29,053,586 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.2% in the 1st 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. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.1% in the 1st 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. Amundi boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,891,260 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $967,193,000 after purchasing an additional 225,993 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $897,185,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.8%

GS opened at $789.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $768.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $683.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.42. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $439.38 and a 12 month high of $825.25.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $10.27 by $1.98. The business had revenue of $11.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.68 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 13.18%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.40 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GS shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $785.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $700.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $752.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $843.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $779.50.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 106,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,755,196.68. This trade represents a 7.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.