The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading Up 0.4% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $485.00 to $585.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group traded as high as $601.86 and last traded at $598.48. 327,000 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 2,213,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $596.11.

GS has been the subject of a number of other reports. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research raised The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $542.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% in the second quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6,300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 64 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $529.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $494.13. 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 company has a market capitalization of $189.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 0.87 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.47 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

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.