The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading 1.6% Higher

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shares shot up 1.6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $457.69 and last traded at $457.43. 1,798,377 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average session volume of 1,889,397 shares. The stock had previously closed at $450.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GS. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $424.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $479.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Argus upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $465.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $440.57.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $147.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $440.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $405.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The business had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.79 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.57 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $2.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.95%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total value of $25,360,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GS. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter worth $1,903,374,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth $1,120,119,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,184,196 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $842,597,000 after buying an additional 464,954 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.8% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,693,331 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,842,192,000 after buying an additional 412,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 26,378.2% during the first quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 407,764 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 406,224 shares during the last quarter. 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.