The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading 0.7% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shares rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $450.00 to $504.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group traded as high as $447.42 and last traded at $446.92. Approximately 476,182 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 2,348,587 shares. The stock had previously closed at $443.67.

Several other research firms also recently commented on GS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. JMP Securities increased their price target on 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. Edward Jones began coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $450.00 to $478.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $445.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $440.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total transaction of $2,161,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at $269,475,456.25. 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total transaction of $4,550,956.00. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now owns 18,408 shares in the company, valued at $7,190,901.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,330 shares of company stock valued at $11,713,578. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.6% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 13,462 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,356,000 after acquiring an additional 1,812 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 81,021 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $26,217,000 after buying an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at $1,618,000. Finally, Conning Inc. grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.7% during the third quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 2,330 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $145.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $406.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $377.23.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The firm had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.07 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.95%.

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.