Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 33,400 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 420,675 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 33,400 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.13% of The Goldman Sachs Group worth $229,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GS. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.6% during the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 2,083 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% during the first quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,202 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,295,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,001,000. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.9% during the first quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 8,449 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,616,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.1% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 6,234 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,406,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $731.97 on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $437.37 and a 12-month high of $734.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $662.35 and a 200-day moving average of $607.95.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $4.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total value of $4,706,944.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 126,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,876,426.56. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at $13,469,493.60. This trade represents a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,079 shares of company stock valued at $14,423,221. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GS. Barclays decreased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and issued a $627.00 target price (up previously from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $660.00.

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.