Bank of America Boosts The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Price Target to $478.00

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) had its price target raised by Bank of America from $450.00 to $478.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the investment management company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on GS. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and set a $390.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $421.00 to $424.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JMP Securities upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $506.00 to $446.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $445.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $434.93.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GS opened at $403.11 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $396.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $365.61. The company has a market cap of $130.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.43. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 1-year low of $289.36 and a 1-year high of $419.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The business had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 8.17%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.79 EPS. Analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 32.76 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 Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 42.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total transaction of $5,001,372.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,602,947.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total transaction of $5,001,372.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,602,947.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total value of $4,550,956.00. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 18,408 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,190,901.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,907 shares of company stock valued at $13,950,851. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GS. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,903,374,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,120,119,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 40.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,936,351 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,038,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,350 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 168,772.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244,589 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $427,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 27,076.5% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 653,322 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $211,396,000 after purchasing an additional 650,918 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.