Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Buys New Holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,694 shares of the investment management company's stock, valued at approximately $1,334,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Waddell & Associates LLC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 896 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.8% during the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,399 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 3,167 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.08, for a total value of $3,060,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 608,425 shares of the company's stock, valued at $372,404,774. The trade was a 0.82 % 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 worth $13,717,979. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $601.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,716,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,213,557. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $545.10 and a 200 day moving average of $501.59. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $340.54 and a twelve month high of $612.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) 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 Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The business had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.47 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on GS. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $614.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased 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, October 16th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $557.88.

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.