Morgan Stanley Lowers The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Price Target to $475.00

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $486.00 to $475.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the investment management company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $479.00 to $517.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $424.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $478.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, HSBC upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $443.78.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of GS opened at $452.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $449.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $411.13. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 52 week low of $289.36 and a 52 week high of $471.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The firm had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 8.17%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $8.79 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 36.59 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were given a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Insider Activity 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 623,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.