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

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $542.00.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:GS opened at $602.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $189.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.35. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 1 year low of $334.87 and a 1 year high of $607.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $529.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $493.78.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.47 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.15 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 35.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total transaction of $3,826,245.76. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,358,685.04. The trade was a 10.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 103.3% in the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 61 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Hedge funds and other 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.