The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Short Interest Update

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,950,000 shares, a decline of 18.4% from the February 28th total of 4,840,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $660.00 to $594.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Oppenheimer cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $591.13.

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Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Director Kevin R. Johnson acquired 2,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $619.02 per share, for a total transaction of $1,485,648.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,485,648. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total value of $1,275,338.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,047,349.55. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 in the last three months. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 9.2 %

GS traded down $51.59 during trading on Thursday, hitting $511.51. The company had a trading volume of 4,270,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,291,756. The company has a market capitalization of $159.61 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The Goldman Sachs Group has a one year low of $387.12 and a one year high of $672.19. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $603.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $573.30.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.48 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.59%.

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.