The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Stock Position Lifted by Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC

Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,719 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Waddell & Associates LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 896 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.8% during the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,399 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Financial grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 3,167 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tanager Wealth Management LLP grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.6% during the third quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 569 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $602.78 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $529.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $494.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $334.87 and a 1-year high of $607.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.35.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.21%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 10.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. 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. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GS. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $542.00.

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.