The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Director David A. Viniar Sells 5,000 Shares

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.08, for a total transaction of $3,060,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 608,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,404,774. This represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded up $0.23 on Tuesday, hitting $601.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,366,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,210,000. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $340.54 and a 1 year high of $612.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $540.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $499.68. The company has a market capitalization of $188.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.47 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $557.88.

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.