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

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $559.75.

GS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $614.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total transaction of $4,001,460.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 117,883 shares in the company, valued at $72,015,903.53. This represents a 5.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.08, for a total transaction of $3,060,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 608,425 shares in the company, valued at $372,404,774. This represents a 0.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,940 shares of company stock worth $13,717,979. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GS. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.5% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $411,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,582 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,268,000 after buying an additional 761 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,529,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.1% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 100,119 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $45,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,993 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 24.1% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,987 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $6,779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS opened at $584.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $553.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $505.37. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 52-week low of $349.05 and a 52-week high of $612.73.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.47 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

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.