The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,430,000 shares, a drop of 11.4% from the September 15th total of 5,000,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $577.00 to $614.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.69.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.0% in the third quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $495,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth approximately $236,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 256,209 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $126,852,000 after purchasing an additional 8,910 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 1,254 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $621,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter worth $210,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded up $2.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $532.70. 627,003 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,214,062. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 12-month low of $289.36 and a 12-month high of $540.51. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $496.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $467.83. The company has a market capitalization of $171.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.69, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.36.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.47 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 35.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm 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 is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.86%.

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.