The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $667.12 and last traded at $663.57, with a volume of 273760 shares. The stock had previously closed at $660.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GS shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, HSBC cut The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $593.56.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 3.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $609.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $555.95. The firm has a market cap of $200.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.39.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders 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 1.87%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total value of $3,313,590.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total transaction of $1,275,338.34. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,047,349.55. The trade was a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 31,475 shares of company stock worth $19,692,543. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,713,325,000 after purchasing an additional 7,475,140 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,584,202 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,761,576,000 after purchasing an additional 161,500 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,155,336 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,524,669,000 after buying an additional 112,696 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,053,614,000 after acquiring an additional 687,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,292,679 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,885,454,000 after purchasing an additional 428,502 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.