The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Upgraded at Freedom Broker

Freedom Broker upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $1,100.00 price objective on the investment management company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $1,200.00.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. HSBC boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $995.00 to $1,007.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $1,050.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital set a $1,050.00 target price on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $1,150.00 to $1,300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,052.48.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $876.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $959.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $991.52. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 52-week low of $754.00 and a 52-week high of $1,153.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.29.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 13th. The investment management company reported $17.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.86 by $4.15. The company had revenue of $18.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.83 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 19.55% and a net margin of 15.77%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $12.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 70.89 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be given a $5.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 2nd. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 28.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter valued at $24,172,123,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter valued at about $6,756,772,000. Orange County Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth about $69,537,544,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter worth about $2,560,028,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter worth about $2,024,921,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting The Goldman Sachs Group

Here are the key news stories impacting The Goldman Sachs Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Freedom Broker upgraded GS from “Hold” to “Buy” and set a $1,100 price target, implying approximately 25.6% upside from the referenced share price. However, the target was reduced from $1,200, which somewhat tempers the bullish signal. Freedom Broker upgrades Goldman Sachs to Buy
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reported particularly strong equities performance in the third quarter, with net revenue rising 72% year over year to $6.44 billion. Robust client activity, financing demand and derivatives contributed to the result, supporting optimism about earnings momentum. Goldman Sachs equities revenue growth
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded Goldman Sachs to a Rank #2 (“Buy”), citing improving expectations for the company’s earnings prospects. Zacks upgrades Goldman Sachs to Buy

The Goldman Sachs Group Company Profile

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, asset management and wealth management services to corporations, financial institutions, governments and individual investors. Its investment banking activities include advising on mergers and acquisitions, public and private offerings, restructurings and other strategic transactions.

Through its global markets businesses, Goldman Sachs helps clients buy and sell securities and other financial instruments and provides financing, risk management and market-making services.