The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading Down 0.5%

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shares dropped 0.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $459.43 and last traded at $459.92. Approximately 578,752 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 2,333,913 shares. The stock had previously closed at $462.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Edward Jones initiated coverage on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $479.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $333.00 to $449.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $445.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $349.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $440.57.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.7 %

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $425.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $390.21. The company has a market capitalization of $148.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The firm had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.79 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.75 per share. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 88.0% during the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 94 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 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.