Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Has $3.12 Million Stock Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 108.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,297 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,279 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $3,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,102.4% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 810,836 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $366,780,000 after purchasing an additional 743,402 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7,932.6% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 444,285 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $200,959,000 after purchasing an additional 438,754 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 878.8% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 397,082 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $179,608,000 after purchasing an additional 356,512 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth approximately $137,134,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 10,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,359,435.50. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. UBS Group raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $614.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $535.75.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS traded up $0.55 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $581.93. 1,523,962 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,221,519. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. 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 Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $334.55 and a 52 week high of $607.15. The company's 50 day moving average is $524.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $491.95.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is 35.21%.

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.