Vontobel Holding Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,953 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 388 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $10,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% during the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $528.97 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $497.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $468.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $289.36 and a 1 year high of $540.51. The company has a market capitalization of $170.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.36.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.47 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.52 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company 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.