The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Shares Up 0.5% - Here's Why

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) were up 0.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $587.80 and last traded at $584.39. Approximately 329,300 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 2,216,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $581.38.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $535.75.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $181.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $522.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $491.32. 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 (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.47 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,713,325,000 after buying an additional 7,475,140 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,102.4% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 810,836 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $366,780,000 after acquiring an additional 743,402 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7,932.6% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 444,285 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $200,959,000 after purchasing an additional 438,754 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 878.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 397,082 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $179,608,000 after purchasing an additional 356,512 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.