Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 4,677 Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 117,629 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,677 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $58,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,713,325,000 after acquiring an additional 7,475,140 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,780,338 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,257,602,000 after buying an additional 77,700 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,117,311 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $957,684,000 after buying an additional 68,141 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 998,136 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $494,187,000 after buying an additional 4,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 34.8% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 843,646 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $381,598,000 after buying an additional 217,954 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of GS stock opened at $602.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $529.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $494.13. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $334.87 and a 1-year high of $607.15.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The business had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $614.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their target price on 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.00.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.