The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock Price Up 1.6% – Here’s What Happened

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) was up 1.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $602.11 and last traded at $601.93. Approximately 465,519 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 2,223,919 shares. The stock had previously closed at $592.59.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $527.63.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $513.80 and a 200 day moving average of $486.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.47 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $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 2.04%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total transaction of $3,826,245.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,358,685.04. This trade represents a 10.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Waddell & Associates LLC grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 896 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.8% in the 2nd 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 period. First Pacific Financial lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 3,167 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,568,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.7% during the 3rd 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 period. 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.