Welch Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Welch Group LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,404 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 501 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $11,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 60.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,602 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,133,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Mitchell Capital Management Co. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 30.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mitchell Capital Management Co. now owns 10,424 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $7,383,000 after purchasing an additional 2,457 shares in the last quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $220,000. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 11.6% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,583 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management now owns 58,580 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $41,460,000 after acquiring an additional 5,644 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GS. Citigroup raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $785.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI boosted 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, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $746.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:GS opened at $765.14 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $760.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $663.66. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $439.38 and a 52 week high of $825.25. The company has a market cap of $231.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.42.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total transaction of $6,754,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 106,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,755,196.68. The trade was a 7.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $47,176,283.79. This represents a 8.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828 over the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.