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

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s share price was up 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $606.56 and last traded at $600.60. Approximately 455,972 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 2,203,280 shares. The stock had previously closed at $598.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GS shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. HSBC downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $570.00 to $686.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $559.75.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $549.26 and a 200-day moving average of $502.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $188.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.38.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,940 shares of company stock worth $13,717,979 in the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GS. Waddell & Associates LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 896 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% in the third quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.8% in the second quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,399 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 3,167 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.7% in the third quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.