The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Lowered to “Market Perform” Rating by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) was downgraded by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $660.00 target price on the investment management company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $690.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.09% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on GS. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on 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. Hsbc Global Res downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $622.11 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $194.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 52 week low of $381.42 and a 52 week high of $672.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $616.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $562.46. 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 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 the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total value of $3,313,590.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,255,506.25. This trade represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.74, for a total value of $2,317,733.60. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 4,552 shares in the company, valued at $2,898,440.48. This trade represents a 44.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 224,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $129,144,000 after purchasing an additional 5,541 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 38,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $21,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,863 shares in the last quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $703,000. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $356,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 213,605 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $122,453,000 after purchasing an additional 49,710 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.