Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Has $526,000 Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 25.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 743 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,800.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 38 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 45.9% in the second quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 54 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $774.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $232.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $786.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $717.17. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a one year low of $439.38 and a one year high of $841.28.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 14th. The investment management company reported $12.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.27 by $1.98. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 13.18%.The company had revenue of $15.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.40 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be issued a $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GS. Zacks Research lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $785.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $850.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $843.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $786.00.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total value of $6,934,016.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 115,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,463,679.48. The trade was a 7.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.