The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Shares Down 2.8% – Here’s Why

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) fell 2.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $609.19 and last traded at $601.69. 435,873 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 2,382,543 shares. The stock had previously closed at $619.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GS. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $558.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $593.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $541.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $579.83. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $187.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.32.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.57 by $1.55. The firm had revenue of $15.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.99 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $11.58 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 27.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John B. Hess acquired 3,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,997,598.72. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,904 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,598.72. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GS. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 914 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $523,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 10,557 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $6,045,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the period. Howard Financial Services LTD. bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,858 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $5,645,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,587 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,481,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.