The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Shares Up 0.4% – What’s Next?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $610.95 and last traded at $605.26. 567,100 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 2,212,391 shares. The stock had previously closed at $602.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $614.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $189.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $529.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $494.47.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,359,435.50. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Waddell & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 896 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its stake 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 worth $1,346,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 worth $583,000 after acquiring 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.