The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading Down 0.4% After Insider Selling

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) traded down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $598.58 and last traded at $599.63. 298,224 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 2,204,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $602.08.

Specifically, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 608,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,404,774. This trade represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total value of $4,001,460.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 117,883 shares in the company, valued at $72,015,903.53. The trade was a 5.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $557.88.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $545.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $501.59. 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 company has a market cap of $188.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion for 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 Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth about $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% in the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

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.