The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Lifted to Buy at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $465.00 target price on the investment management company’s stock.

GS has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $437.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $333.00 to $449.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, 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. 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 Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $434.93.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $403.11 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $396.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $365.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.43. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 12 month low of $289.36 and a 12 month 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 earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The company had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.79 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 32.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $2.75 dividend. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were 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 $11,602,947.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total transaction of $4,550,956.00. Following the sale, 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 three months, insiders sold 35,907 shares of company stock valued at $13,950,851. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. First United Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 82.0% during the third quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 91 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 88.0% during the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 94 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. 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.