The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Short Interest Down 5.2% in October

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,530,000 shares, a drop of 5.2% from the October 15th total of 4,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,940,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 57,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,358,685.04. The trade was a 10.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.9% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,582 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,268,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 25.5% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,013 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,018,000 after acquiring an additional 2,442 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,529,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 56.1% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 21,780 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $9,097,000 after purchasing an additional 7,826 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $593.54 on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 1 year low of $334.55 and a 1 year high of $607.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $518.10 and its 200-day moving average is $489.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.32 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.15 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $535.75.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company Profile

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.