The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Lowered to “Market Perform” Rating by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $660.00 price objective on the investment management company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $690.00.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Hsbc Global Res lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, HSBC lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS opened at $607.99 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $615.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $561.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 52 week low of $381.42 and a 52 week high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.48 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total transaction of $3,313,590.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at $2,255,506.25. This represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total value of $965,115.15. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 8,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. now owns 650 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 70.9% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 453 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $799,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $73,000. Finally, LM Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. LM Advisors LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,045,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.