The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS Shares Purchased by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,461 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $8,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 617,504.5% in the second 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,379,900 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,392,124,000 after buying an additional 157,473 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 40,125 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 120,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 13.6% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 1,891,260 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $967,193,000 after acquiring an additional 225,993 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $777.11 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The company has a market capitalization of $233.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.41. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $841.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $786.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $714.77.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The investment management company reported $12.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.27 by $1.98. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 13.18%.The firm had revenue of $15.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.68 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.50%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total transaction of $6,934,016.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 115,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,463,679.48. This represents a 7.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Dbs Bank increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $750.00 target price (up from $625.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $685.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $843.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $786.00.

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.