The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Reaches New 12-Month High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $612.75 and last traded at $607.50, with a volume of 381509 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $605.92.

The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GS. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $610.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $572.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total value of $3,826,245.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,358,685.04. This trade represents a 10.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,940 shares of company stock worth $12,656,179 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GS. Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% during the third quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 896 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,719 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 243 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Financial increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 3,167 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,568,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Krane Funds Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 1,177 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 1.2 %

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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $585.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $527.58. The firm has a market cap of $192.49 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.38.

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.