The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading 0.3% Higher – Should You Buy?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shares traded up 0.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $612.25 and last traded at $607.36. 440,216 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 2,217,522 shares. The stock had previously closed at $605.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on GS shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Oppenheimer upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $614.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Seven research 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $550.63.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $189.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $534.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $496.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,359,435.50. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.9% in 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 during the period. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 15,998 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $7,920,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,691 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,788,000 after buying an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,563 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,240,000 after buying an additional 1,351 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,072,000 after buying an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.