The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading 0.5% Higher – Still a Buy?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) rose 0.5% on Wednesday . The company 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $542.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $187.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $527.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $492.68.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.21%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119 in the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GS. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,582 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,268,000 after buying an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter valued at about $5,529,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 100,119 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $45,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,993 shares during the period. Finally, PGGM Investments increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 341.8% during the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 11,527 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,815,000 after purchasing an additional 8,918 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.