The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $522.75, but opened at $538.80. The Goldman Sachs Group shares last traded at $521.71, with a volume of 1,255,808 shares traded.

The investment management company reported $8.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.87 by $0.53. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.47 EPS.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $464.00 to $472.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $513.00 to $561.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $548.00 to $577.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $504.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GS. Magnus Financial Group LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.0% in the third quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 3,774 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,868,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Financial grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 3,167 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,568,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter worth $203,000. Swedbank AB grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 339,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $167,866,000 after acquiring an additional 13,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zhang Financial LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.1% in the third quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 4,174 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,066,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The company has a market capitalization of $168.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $495.39 and its 200-day moving average is $467.39.

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.