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

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. 1,621,548 shares changed hands during 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.48 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GS shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $588.00 to $713.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised 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. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $569.31.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at $5,359,435.50. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $372,404,774. This trade represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,940 shares of company stock worth $13,717,979. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 86,108 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $38,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.0% during the second quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,529 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,501,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 4,417 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $189.90 billion, a PE ratio of 17.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $585.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $527.58. 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 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.