Market Update (NYSE:GS): Goldman Sachs throws support behind IEX exchange application

[Reuters] – Investment bank Goldman Sachs Group (GS.N) has thrown its support behind upstart trading venue IEX Group’s bid to become a U.S. stock exchange, asking regulators to use the opportunity to address broader issues related to how the market is structured. IEX, the private trading venue featured in author Michael Lewis’ book “Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt,” applied in September with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to become a registered stock exchange called the Investors’ Exchange. As an exchange, IEX would offer an alternative for market participants who cannot or do not want to compete on speed with the fastest trading firms, and for those looking to get large trades done, Goldman said in a letter to the SEC dated Jan. 12, and posted on the regulator’s website on Wednesday. Read more on this. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) , valued at $70.94B, opened this morning at $166.46. Looking at today’s trading action, the company’s one day range from $157.92 to $167.10 and has traded between $157.92 and $218.77 over the past year. Goldman Sachs (GS) shares are currently priced at 11.11x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry’s 15.74x earnings multiple for the same period. The company pays shareholders $2.60 per share in dividend income per year, for a current yield of 1.59%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 22 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $3.70 per share, which would be $0.68 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $1.30 sequential decrease. In looking at the bigger picture, the full-year EPS estimate of $14.91 would be a $2.16 worse when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $7.28 Billion. If reported, that would be a 5.33% decrease over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Morgan Stanley upgraded GS from Equal-Weight to Overweight (Oct 26, 2015). Previously, Sandler O’Neill upgraded GS from Hold to Buy. Given all the information above, we should disclose to readers that the average price target is $206.92, which is 24.31% above than it opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:GS) Similar Articles: Market Update: The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) – Goldman Sachs Asset Management Announces Additional Updates to Money Market Fund Product Line in Anticipation of New Regulatory Requirements Market Update: The Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) – HazelTree and Goldman Sachs Asset Management Announce Strategic Partnership to Help Investment Managers Manage Cash Holdings Market Update (NYSE:GS): Goldman Sachs Asset Management Launches ActiveBeta® International Equity Exchange-Traded Fund