The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading Up 1.6% – Here’s Why

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shot up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $525.86 and last traded at $525.84. 249,496 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 2,185,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $517.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $577.00 to $614.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $524.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $165.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $502.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $476.22.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its 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 Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 9.89%. The business had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.5% in the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.9% in the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,582 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 62.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,388,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 34.2% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 8,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 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.