The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Earnings Beat

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. Approximately 1,621,548 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 16% from the previous session’s volume of 1,921,083 shares.The stock last traded at $605.31 and had previously closed at $571.53.

The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.48 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $610.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $589.19.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,046,795.39. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total transaction of $4,001,460.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 117,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,015,903.53. This represents a 5.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,940 shares of company stock valued at $12,656,179. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,713,325,000 after purchasing an additional 7,475,140 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7,932.6% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 444,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $200,959,000 after acquiring an additional 438,754 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 154.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 414,867 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $205,403,000 after purchasing an additional 251,972 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 829.0% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 260,317 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $128,886,000 after purchasing an additional 232,297 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 1.0 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $585.87 and a 200-day moving average of $528.13. The company has a market capitalization of $192.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

About The Goldman Sachs Group

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.