Insider Selling: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) CAO Sells 2,034 Shares of Stock

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total value of $1,275,338.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $4,047,349.55. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS traded up $5.95 on Thursday, hitting $638.68. The company had a trading volume of 2,573,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,757,116. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $589.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $533.75. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $374.24 and a 1-year high of $645.54. 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 stock has a market cap of $200.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.48 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 46.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,713,325,000 after buying an additional 7,475,140 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,042,640 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,991,772,000 after purchasing an additional 161,133 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,780,338 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,257,602,000 after purchasing an additional 77,700 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,707,632 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $845,466,000 after acquiring an additional 18,541 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Hsbc Global Res cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.06.

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.