Brokerages Set The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) Target Price at $593.56

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $593.56.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $569.00 to $608.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS opened at $618.04 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $614.54 and a 200-day moving average of $561.19. The company has a market cap of $192.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.39. 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 has a 1 year low of $381.42 and a 1 year high of $672.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 29.59%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $634.69, for a total value of $4,758,905.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,086,042.41. This represents a 43.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 31,475 shares of company stock worth $19,692,543. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,713,325,000 after purchasing an additional 7,475,140 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,603,315,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $944,334,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $624,844,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 14,007.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,059,716 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $606,815,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052,204 shares in the last quarter. 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.