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

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $593.56.

GS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. 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 report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 2.6 %

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $625.70 on Monday. 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 Goldman Sachs Group has a 12 month low of $381.42 and a 12 month high of $672.19. The firm has a market cap of $195.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $611.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $558.92.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.48 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.59%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total value of $4,001,460.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total value of $3,313,590.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at $2,255,506.25. The trade was a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,475 shares of company stock valued at $19,692,543. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Swedbank AB increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 339,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $167,866,000 after acquiring an additional 13,730 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 14.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,057 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $20,966,000 after buying an additional 5,402 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 67.0% during the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 5,562 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,754,000 after buying an additional 2,232 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 9.5% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 566 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,963 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,962,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.