The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading 0.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s share price shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $601.53 and last traded at $594.52. Approximately 395,469 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 2,221,311 shares. The stock had previously closed at $594.22.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GS. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $535.75.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $518.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $488.35. The stock has a market cap of $186.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 0.86 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 Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The business 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 Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total value of $3,826,245.76. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,614 shares in the company, valued at $34,358,685.04. This represents a 10.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GS. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% in the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.