First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Has $22.15 Million Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,295 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group comprises 4.4% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $22,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GS. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 617,504.5% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 29,058,291 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $20,566,005,000 after acquiring an additional 29,053,586 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,766,238,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $897,185,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 14,764 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $8,065,000 after acquiring an additional 585,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $408,780,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 1.9%

GS stock opened at $765.14 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $760.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $662.32. The company has a market capitalization of $231.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The business had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $4.00 dividend. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 65,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of 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. HSBC boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $706.00 to $854.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $727.31.

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.