The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $495.94.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $490.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $493.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total value of $1,770,965.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,119,949.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total value of $25,360,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,013,500 shares of company stock valued at $32,181,365 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,012,564 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,319,470,000 after purchasing an additional 338,181 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,516,093 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,127,944,000 after acquiring an additional 150,532 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,195,203 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,004,153,000 after acquiring an additional 27,524 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,953,461 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,910,897,000 after purchasing an additional 274,989 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.0% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,895,928 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,044,980,000 after purchasing an additional 141,538 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 The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $510.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $485.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $444.43. The Goldman Sachs Group has a fifty-two week low of $289.36 and a fifty-two week high of $517.26. The firm has a market cap of $161.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.37.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.10. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. The company had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.60 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 35.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 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.