The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock Price Up 1.4%

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s stock price shot up 1.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $442.30 and last traded at $438.58. 800,841 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 2,356,448 shares. The stock had previously closed at $432.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on GS. Edward Jones began coverage on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $437.04.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 1.3 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $404.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $374.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $142.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.54 by $3.04. The firm had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 8.17%. The business’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.79 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be issued a $2.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total value of $4,550,956.00. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 18,408 shares in the company, valued at $7,190,901.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,330 shares of company stock worth $11,713,578. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Powell Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% during the first 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 lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $944,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.4% in the first quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.2% in the first quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 1,166 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WNY Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 1,627 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

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.