The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading Up 0.3% – Here’s What Happened

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shares rose 0.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $612.25 and last traded at $607.36. Approximately 440,216 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 2,217,522 shares. The stock had previously closed at $605.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the subject of several research reports. 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $550.63.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $538.72 and a 200 day moving average of $498.08. 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 firm has a market cap of $190.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.47 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at $5,046,795.39. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119 in the last ninety days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,660,088 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $898,428,000 after buying an additional 62,246 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 15,998 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $7,920,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,691 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,788,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,563 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,240,000 after purchasing an additional 1,351 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,072,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.