The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Short Interest Update

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,050,000 shares, a growth of 5.4% from the November 15th total of 4,790,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS opened at $574.68 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $564.47 and a 200-day moving average of $510.78. The company has a market cap of $180.40 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.38. The Goldman Sachs Group has a one year low of $372.07 and a one year high of $612.73.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.06 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $570.00 to $686.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wolfe Research raised The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. HSBC downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $559.75.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total transaction of $4,001,460.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 117,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,015,903.53. The trade was a 5.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,940 shares of company stock valued at $13,717,979 over the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. 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.