First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 14.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,888 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 1,112 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $3,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Tributary Capital Management LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS traded up $2.31 during trading on Thursday, hitting $467.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 993,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,939,258. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $289.36 and a twelve month high of $471.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $452.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $412.68.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.54 by $3.04. The company had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 8.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.79 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 42.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $504.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $486.00 to $475.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $479.00 to $517.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $478.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $445.62.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 623,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.