The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Shares Up 1.6% – Time to Buy?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s share price rose 1.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $602.11 and last traded at $601.93. Approximately 465,519 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 2,223,919 shares. The stock had previously closed at $592.59.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on GS shares. Wolfe Research upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $527.63.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $184.72 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $513.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $486.51. 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 (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 11.39%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. 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 2.04%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total transaction of $3,826,245.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,358,685.04. The trade was a 10.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119 in the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 70.0% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 8,265 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,092,000 after purchasing an additional 3,404 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth $899,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $96,000. B&L Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $248,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter worth $2,703,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

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.