The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading 2% Higher

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shares traded up 2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $483.51 and last traded at $482.68. 383,659 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 2,350,254 shares. The stock had previously closed at $473.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $478.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $490.00 to $535.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $461.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $495.94.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $471.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $431.73. The firm has a market cap of $158.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.10. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 10.26%. The business had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. Analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 46.86%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total value of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,013,500 shares of company stock worth $32,181,365. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GS. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. now owns 166,656 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $64,291,000 after purchasing an additional 20,018 shares during the period. HTLF Bank bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $850,000. Apexium Financial LP increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 5,672 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,188,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 62.7% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth $1,388,000. Institutional investors 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.