Empire Financial Management Company LLC Raises Stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Empire Financial Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) by 3.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,275 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC’s holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $1,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GS. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,046,795.39. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 22,940 shares of company stock valued at $13,717,979. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GS shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $614.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. HSBC lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $570.00 to $686.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.75.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE GS opened at $584.86 on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $349.05 and a 52 week high of $612.73. 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 company has a market capitalization of $183.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $553.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $505.37.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.21%.

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.