The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Price Target Raised to $605.00

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) had its price target increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $550.00 to $605.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the investment management company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on GS. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. HSBC downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Hsbc Global Res cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $626.84 on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group has a twelve month low of $372.07 and a twelve month high of $627.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $587.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $529.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.08, for a total transaction of $3,060,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 608,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,404,774. This trade represents a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 117,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,015,903.53. The trade was a 5.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,940 shares of company stock valued at $12,656,179. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $26,000. West Branch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.0% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 63 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company Profile

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.