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

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $535.75.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America upped 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total value of $3,826,245.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,358,685.04. This trade represents a 10.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,713,325,000 after purchasing an additional 7,475,140 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,042,640 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,991,772,000 after acquiring an additional 161,133 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,435,144,000 after acquiring an additional 521,054 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,780,338 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,257,602,000 after acquiring an additional 77,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,117,311 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $957,684,000 after acquiring an additional 68,141 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS opened at $593.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $515.82 and its 200-day moving average is $487.22. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 12-month low of $334.55 and a 12-month high of $607.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

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.