Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Lowers Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 7.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,660 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 227 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $25,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% in the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $461.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $493.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $513.00 to $561.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $495.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $5,050,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,287,748. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total value of $5,050,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,287,748. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,013,500 shares of company stock valued at $32,181,365. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS traded up $7.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $510.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,565,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,277,374. The firm has a market cap of $164.57 billion, a PE ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.12. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $289.36 and a 52 week high of $517.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $483.44 and its 200-day moving average is $442.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.60 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 9.36%. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.74 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 46.86%.

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.