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

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,790,000 shares, a growth of 5.7% from the October 31st total of 4,530,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $598.69 on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 1 year low of $340.54 and a 1 year high of $612.73. The stock has a market cap of $187.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $547.25 and a 200 day moving average of $502.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.47 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on GS. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. HSBC cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $570.00 to $686.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $557.88.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.08, for a total transaction of $3,060,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 608,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $372,404,774. This represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,940 shares of company stock valued at $13,717,979 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GS. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 48.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,357 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,468 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,926,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 28,209 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $12,759,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.4% in the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 12,841 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $5,808,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.