Empirical Asset Management LLC Acquires 294 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Empirical Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 11.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,891 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GS. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter worth $205,000. Werba Rubin Papier Wealth Management bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter worth $325,000. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,169 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the period. Omnia Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 500 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $742,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 115,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,463,679.48. This trade represents a 7.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total transaction of $4,706,944.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 126,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,876,426.56. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HSBC increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $769.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

NYSE:GS opened at $757.33 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $764.67 and a 200-day moving average of $668.27. The company has a market capitalization of $229.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.42. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.38 and a 52 week high of $825.25. 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 Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The investment management company reported $12.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $10.27 by $1.98. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $4.00 per share. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.