The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Short Interest Up 10.3% in August

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,870,000 shares, an increase of 10.3% from the August 15th total of 5,320,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $0.69 on Wednesday, reaching $484.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,699,245 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,251,688. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $490.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $452.97. The stock has a market cap of $156.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 1.36. The Goldman Sachs Group has a fifty-two week low of $289.36 and a fifty-two week high of $517.26.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.52 by $0.10. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 35.5 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.48%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $5,050,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,450 shares in the company, valued at $6,287,748. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 697 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,699 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,918 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,120,119,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 189,162 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $72,973,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GS shares. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $493.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $464.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $496.44.

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.