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

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $535.75.

Several research analysts have recently commented on GS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:GS opened at $581.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $524.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $491.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 52 week low of $334.55 and a 52 week high of $607.15. The firm has a market cap of $182.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.47 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at $5,359,435.50. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 27,271 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,502,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 2,455 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,215,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $278,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,948,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.5% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 905 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.