Short Interest in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Expands By 9.0%

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,090,000 shares, an increase of 9.0% from the March 15th total of 4,670,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total value of $5,001,372.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,417 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,947.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.15, for a total value of $1,634,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,463 shares in the company, valued at $4,357,659.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total value of $5,001,372.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,602,947.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,907 shares of company stock valued at $13,950,851 in the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Cambridge Trust Co. lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 82.0% during the third quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 91 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS traded down $4.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $396.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,459,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,148,238. The Goldman Sachs Group has a fifty-two week low of $289.36 and a fifty-two week high of $419.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $395.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $365.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.12.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 8.17%. The business had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 32.76 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 Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $2.75 per share. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $349.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $478.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $382.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $449.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.93.

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.