Insider Selling: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Director Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) 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 value of $3,060,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 608,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,404,774. This represents a 0.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $597.21 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $341.60 and a 12-month high of $612.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $549.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $502.93. The company has a market cap of $187.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The business had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.47 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of 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, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $557.88.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GS. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% during 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,435,144,000 after buying an additional 521,054 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in 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 worth $200,959,000 after acquiring an additional 438,754 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 878.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 397,082 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $179,608,000 after acquiring an additional 356,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 414,867 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $205,403,000 after purchasing an additional 251,972 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

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.