Short Interest in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Increases By 5.7%

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) saw a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,790,000 shares, a growth of 5.7% from the October 31st total of 4,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS traded up $1.51 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $603.22. 651,895 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,208,855. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $540.94 and its 200 day moving average is $499.68. The stock has a market cap of $189.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.38. 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 has a 1-year low of $340.54 and a 1-year high of $612.73.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.47 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.15 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.21%.

Insider Activity

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 48.6% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,357 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth $58,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 20.7% in the second quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,468 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,926,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 28,209 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $12,759,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.4% in the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 12,841 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,808,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on GS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $570.00 to $686.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wolfe Research raised The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven equities 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.