The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $645.91 and last traded at $645.35, with a volume of 257340 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $637.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of 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. HSBC downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.06.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $201.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 0.88 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $593.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $538.70.

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 Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 46.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,046,795.39. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total value of $965,115.15. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,117,296.64. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,657 shares of company stock valued at $21,973,272. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GS. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. West Branch Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.0% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 63 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Country Trust Bank bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

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.