Axa, a French insurance company, has reduced its holdings in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) by nearly 50%, according to documents from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Axa, which had previously been Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS)’s largest shareholder, sold more than 14 million shares of the stock during the first six months of the year, reducing its stake from 4.8% to 2.8%, the documents showed. The SEC also said that BlackRock and T Rowe Price have also cut their holdings in Goldman Sachs.
Goldman disclosed last month that its profits had fallen by 82% during the second quarter as the company was hit by a massive U.S. fraud settlement and a new tax on bonuses in Britain. The company said that it had made exceptional government payouts of $1.15 billion. Goldman set-aside $600 million to pay a new British tax on executive bonuses and $550 million to settle charges with the U.S. government.
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (Goldman Sachs) is a bank holding and a global investment banking, securities and investment management company. The Company provides a range of financial services to customers, including corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals. Its depository institution subsidiary, Goldman Sachs Bank USA (GS Bank USA), is a New York State-chartered bank. It operates in three segments: Investment Banking, Trading and Principal Investments and Asset Management and Securities Services. In March 2010, the Company’s subsidiaries sold the La Francia mine and related infrastructure assets, including Concession 5160, and Adromi Capital Corp., the holder of the La Francia II concession, to a subsidiary of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. In May 2010, Nexen Inc. sold its natural gas trading operations to a unit of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) traded down 0.51% hitting $138.69 during mid-day trading on Tuesday.
