Brokerages Set The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) PT at $559.75

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $559.75.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $570.00 to $686.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $585.41 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $559.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $507.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.38. 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 Goldman Sachs Group has a 12 month low of $365.00 and a 12 month high of $612.73.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.47 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.06 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total value of $4,001,460.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 117,883 shares in the company, valued at $72,015,903.53. This represents a 5.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,940 shares of company stock valued at $13,717,979 over the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $411,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,582 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the period. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,529,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.1% in the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 100,119 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $45,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 24.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,987 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $6,779,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.