Bridgewater Associates LP Boosts Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 174.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 127,571 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,172 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $63,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GS. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% in the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $605.22 on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $334.87 and a fifty-two week high of $611.30. The firm has a market cap of $189.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $534.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $496.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.47 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. HSBC cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.63.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total value of $3,826,245.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,358,685.04. This represents a 10.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.57% 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.