The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Shares Up 0.3% – What’s Next?

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shot up 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $606.56 and last traded at $600.60. 455,972 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 2,203,280 shares. The stock had previously closed at $598.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $570.00 to $686.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $557.88.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.1 %

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 stock has a market capitalization of $187.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $547.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $502.27.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during 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 Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid 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 yield of 2.01%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 57,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,358,685.04. This trade represents a 10.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares in the company, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 22,940 shares of company stock worth $13,717,979. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,161,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,660,088 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $898,428,000 after acquiring an additional 62,246 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.7% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 15,998 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $7,920,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.3% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,691 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,788,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,563 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,240,000 after buying an additional 1,351 shares in the last quarter. 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.