Benson Investment Management Company Inc. Reduces Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. cut its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,845 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group comprises 2.6% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $6,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GS. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,800.0% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 38 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 46.9% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 72 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% during the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 1.9%

GS stock opened at $765.14 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $439.38 and a 1-year high of $825.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $760.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $662.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.42.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly 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 Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $4.00 dividend. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total value of $4,310,079.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 65,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,176,283.79. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total value of $6,934,016.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 115,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,463,679.48. The trade was a 7.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $706.00 to $854.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $752.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $727.31.

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.