The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $440.57.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $424.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $445.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $410.00 to $430.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Argus raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total value of $2,161,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 623,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $653,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 1,866 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Powell Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,838 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,603,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $944,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Optas LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

NYSE GS opened at $457.30 on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 12 month low of $289.36 and a 12 month high of $471.48. The stock has a market cap of $147.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $440.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $405.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 36.57 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

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

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.