Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,068 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 62.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,632,000 after purchasing an additional 2,428 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth $1,388,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 34.2% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 8,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at $5,416,000. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 25.5% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,013 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,018,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $490.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 12,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,287,748. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total value of $1,770,965.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at $6,119,949.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total value of $5,050,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,287,748. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $478.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $289.36 and a 12-month high of $517.26. The company has a market cap of $154.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $490.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $450.78.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.52 by $0.10. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. The company had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.60 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.5 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.