The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading Up 0.8% – Still a Buy?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) traded up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $530.78 and last traded at $528.49. 343,437 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 2,190,036 shares. The stock had previously closed at $524.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on GS. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $501.30 and a 200-day moving average of $475.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market capitalization of $166.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.36.

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 company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.05%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm 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 is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other 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 directly owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GS. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.9% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,582 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after buying an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 62.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,632,000 after buying an additional 2,428 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,388,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 34.2% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 8,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,448,000 after acquiring an additional 2,103 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.