The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading Down 1%

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) traded down 1% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $395.18 and last traded at $396.86. 3,459,728 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 61% from the average session volume of 2,148,238 shares. The stock had previously closed at $400.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on GS shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $333.00 to $449.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Argus upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday. Edward Jones began coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $446.00 to $479.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.93.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $396.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $365.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 1.12.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 35.15 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $2.75 per share. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total transaction of $5,001,372.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,602,947.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total value of $5,001,372.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,602,947.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 4,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.15, for a total transaction of $1,634,645.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,357,659.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,907 shares of company stock valued at $13,950,851. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 6,012,564 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,319,470,000 after acquiring an additional 338,181 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,936,351 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,038,425,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,350 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,518,035 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,128,693,000 after buying an additional 152,474 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,195,203 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,004,153,000 after buying an additional 27,524 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,953,461 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,910,897,000 after buying an additional 274,989 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.