Analysts Set The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) PT at $660.00

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $660.00.

GS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $715.00 target price on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares in the company, valued at $13,469,493.60. This represents a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total value of $4,706,944.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,876,426.56. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,079 shares of company stock worth $14,423,221 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 429 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 59 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 668 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 653 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS opened at $741.8440 on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $749.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The company has a market cap of $224.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $705.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $620.87.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $4.00 dividend. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.26%.

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.