The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) saw a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,950,000 shares, a decline of 18.4% from the February 28th total of 4,840,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,650,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $720.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $782.00 to $659.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $605.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $590.60.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.7 %

GS stock opened at $546.75 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $170.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $606.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $572.88. The Goldman Sachs Group has a fifty-two week low of $387.12 and a fifty-two week high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.48 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.59%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total transaction of $965,115.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total value of $1,275,338.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $4,047,349.55. The trade was a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 over the last ninety days. 0.55% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.2% in the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 1,570 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter worth $2,703,000. Paloma Partners Management Co raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 70.0% during the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 8,265 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,092,000 after purchasing an additional 3,404 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 493.0% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 7,585 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,757,000 after buying an additional 6,306 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.