Short Interest in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Drops By 9.2%

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,610,000 shares, a decline of 9.2% from the May 15th total of 6,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total value of $2,161,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 623,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter worth about $25,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 88.0% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 94 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS traded up $7.12 on Tuesday, hitting $457.30. 1,798,159 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,281,855. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 12 month low of $289.36 and a 12 month high of $471.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $440.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $404.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.39.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The business had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.79 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 36.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 42.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $445.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $424.00 to $433.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $479.00 to $517.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $440.57.

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.