The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $757.35 and last traded at $736.35, with a volume of 329016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $748.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GS shares. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 1.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $223.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $723.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $626.63.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $4.00 per share. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total transaction of $4,706,944.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 126,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,876,426.56. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total transaction of $6,934,016.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 115,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $86,463,679.48. The trade was a 7.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,800.0% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 38 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Graney & King LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 51.5% in the second quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 50 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 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.