The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Shares Down 0.7% – Should You Sell?

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) were down 0.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $575.51 and last traded at $583.61. Approximately 453,862 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 2,216,738 shares. The stock had previously closed at $587.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GS shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $535.75.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 1.1 %

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $520.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $490.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.13, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The business had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total transaction of $3,826,245.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,358,685.04. This represents a 10.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119 over the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 27,271 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,502,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter worth approximately $278,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter worth approximately $1,948,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.5% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 905 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.