The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) had its price target upped by Barclays from $713.00 to $760.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the investment management company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. HSBC downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $589.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE:GS opened at $626.84 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $587.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $529.85. The Goldman Sachs Group has a one year low of $372.07 and a one year high of $627.00. The firm has a market cap of $196.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total transaction of $1,768,072.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.08, for a total value of $3,060,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 608,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,404,774. The trade was a 0.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,940 shares of company stock valued at $12,656,179 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GS. FCG Investment Co increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 2,225 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,274,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 158.1% during the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 1,430 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 534 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter worth about $1,869,000. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. 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.