The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $591.06.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GS shares. HSBC cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at $5,046,795.39. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total transaction of $965,115.15. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,117,296.64. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,657 shares of company stock valued at $21,973,272. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several 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% in 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. FMR LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,435,144,000 after acquiring an additional 521,054 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 154.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 414,867 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $205,403,000 after purchasing an additional 251,972 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 829.0% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 260,317 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $128,886,000 after purchasing an additional 232,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 265.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 248,500 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $123,035,000 after purchasing an additional 180,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

NYSE GS opened at $638.13 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $200.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.38. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 12-month low of $375.20 and a 12-month high of $649.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $593.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $538.70.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 46.81 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 29.59%.

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.