4,654 Shares in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS Purchased by Foster & Motley Inc.

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,654 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,707,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,014,431 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $25,503,685,000 after purchasing an additional 418,820 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth $24,172,123,000. State Street Corp grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 19,564,783 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $17,197,444,000 after buying an additional 394,198 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,771,556 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,952,199,000 after buying an additional 110,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,726,721 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,896,795,000 after buying an additional 45,266 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $900.00 to $955.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $1,195.00 to $1,325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $1,120.00 to $1,150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $1,048.00 to $1,245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $1,062.86.

Key Headlines Impacting The Goldman Sachs Group

Here are the key news stories impacting The Goldman Sachs Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs was among the financial giants receiving a “Buy” growth grade, reinforcing the view that its earnings growth, capital-markets franchise and strategic positioning remain attractive. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs lead as most financial giants earn Buy growth grades
• Positive Sentiment: The firm is reportedly expanding into India’s government share-sale market. Greater participation in equity offerings could create additional investment-banking revenue and deepen Goldman’s presence in a fast-growing market. Goldman Sachs expands into India’s government share sale market
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman agreed to pay up to $2.25 billion for NEOS Investments, the issuer of high-income ETFs. The acquisition supports Goldman’s asset-management and wealth-products strategy, although investors will monitor the price paid and integration execution. Goldman Sachs acquisition of NEOS Investments
• Neutral Sentiment: Goldman research said gold could exceed its $4,900 year-end forecast amid options demand, Western investor buying and central-bank purchases. The call may benefit the firm’s commodities and trading franchise, but changing interest-rate expectations could increase market volatility and forecasting risk. Gold could top Goldman’s forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Goldman strategists described July as one of the sharpest hedge-fund de-grossing episodes of the past decade, with hedge funds posting an unusually weak month relative to the S&P 500. Continued de-risking could pressure trading activity and investment-banking sentiment across Wall Street. Goldman Sachs hedge funds worst month versus S&P 500

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 3.9%

GS stock opened at $1,041.35 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1,053.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $964.40. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $718.58 and a 52 week high of $1,153.99. The company has a market cap of $303.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.30.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The investment management company reported $20.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.47 by $6.51. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.22 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 19.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 39.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $10.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 68.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $5.00 dividend. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $4.50. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.78%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Profile

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc is a global investment banking and financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1869 as a commercial paper business, the company has grown into a diversified financial institution that provides a broad range of services to corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. The firm is led by Chief Executive Officer David M. Solomon and operates across major financial centers worldwide.

Goldman Sachs’ core businesses include investment banking, global markets, asset and wealth management, and consumer banking.