Oppenheimer Cuts The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Price Target to $639.00

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) had its price objective decreased by Oppenheimer from $677.00 to $639.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the investment management company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. HSBC lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $570.00 to $686.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $558.38.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

NYSE:GS opened at $580.13 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $182.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.38. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 12-month low of $372.07 and a 12-month high of $612.73. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $578.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $521.24.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.47 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.06 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.21%.

Insider Activity

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total transaction of $4,001,460.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 117,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,015,903.53. The trade was a 5.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,940 shares of company stock worth $13,717,979 over the last quarter. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First City Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,311 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,217 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,560,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 104.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 561 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 364,276 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $180,357,000 after purchasing an additional 7,644 shares during the period. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.7% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 877 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.