The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Position Increased by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,397 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $5,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% during the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total value of $3,826,245.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,358,685.04. The trade was a 10.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,359,435.50. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

NYSE GS opened at $587.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $184.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $513.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $486.51. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $334.55 and a fifty-two week high of $607.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $614.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $535.75.

The Goldman Sachs Group 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.