The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Lowered to “Market Perform” Rating by Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on GS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, HSBC downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $594.27.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS stock opened at $557.62 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $611.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $567.75. The company has a market capitalization of $174.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.75, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. 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 Goldman Sachs Group has a fifty-two week low of $386.00 and a fifty-two week high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The business had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total transaction of $1,275,338.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,047,349.55. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin R. Johnson purchased 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $619.02 per share, for a total transaction of $1,485,648.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,485,648. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,584,202 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,761,576,000 after acquiring an additional 161,500 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,155,336 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,524,669,000 after purchasing an additional 112,696 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,053,614,000 after buying an additional 687,711 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,292,679 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,885,454,000 after buying an additional 428,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,010,583 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,723,920,000 after buying an additional 229,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

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.