The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock Price Down 0.4% Following Insider Selling

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shares fell 0.4% during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $598.58 and last traded at $599.63. 298,224 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 2,204,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $602.08.

Specifically, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.08, for a total transaction of $3,060,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 608,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,404,774. This trade represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total value of $4,001,460.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 117,883 shares in the company, valued at $72,015,903.53. This trade represents a 5.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on GS. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. HSBC cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $557.88.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.6 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $547.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $502.27. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $187.93 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The business had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.47 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GS. Waddell & Associates LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 896 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,399 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 3,167 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $583,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.