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

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $495.94.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $461.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $493.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 1.7 %

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $479.64 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $489.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $447.76. The company has a market cap of $154.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.36. The Goldman Sachs Group has a fifty-two week low of $289.36 and a fifty-two week high of $517.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.60 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.36% and a return on equity of 10.56%. Equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 35.07 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total value of $25,360,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,013,500 shares of company stock worth $32,181,365. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,012,564 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,319,470,000 after buying an additional 338,181 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,516,093 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,127,944,000 after purchasing an additional 150,532 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,195,203 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,004,153,000 after purchasing an additional 27,524 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,953,461 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,910,897,000 after purchasing an additional 274,989 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,895,928 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,044,980,000 after purchasing an additional 141,538 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

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.