The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Receives $496.44 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $496.44.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GS shares. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $464.00 to $472.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $493.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

GS stock opened at $490.41 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 52-week low of $289.36 and a 52-week high of $517.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.20. The stock has a market cap of $158.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $492.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $460.46.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.52 by $0.10. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 9.36%. The firm had revenue of $12.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.60 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 35.43 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total transaction of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,119,949.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas K. Montag sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.04, for a total transaction of $5,050,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,287,748. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GS. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,903,374,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,102.4% during the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 810,836 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $366,780,000 after buying an additional 743,402 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,184,196 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $842,597,000 after buying an additional 464,954 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7,932.6% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 444,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $200,959,000 after acquiring an additional 438,754 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 878.8% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 397,082 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $179,608,000 after acquiring an additional 356,512 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.