The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Shares Up 0.7% – What’s Next?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s stock price rose 0.7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $612.73 and last traded at $609.49. Approximately 297,224 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 2,213,561 shares. The stock had previously closed at $605.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GS. HSBC cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities lifted 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.63.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $192.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $538.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $498.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.47 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,046,795.39. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth about $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% during the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

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.