Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 23.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,188 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,257 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $2,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $583,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 3,817 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,186,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $844,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GS. HSBC restated a “reduce” rating and set a $627.00 price objective (up previously from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $650.00 to $785.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $649.29.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE GS opened at $706.62 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $644.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $599.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.35. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $437.37 and a fifty-two week high of $726.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.12.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The business had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.84% and a net margin of 12.37%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. On average, equities 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 company 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 dividend of $4.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 27.85%.

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.