The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock Price Down 1.5%

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s share price was down 1.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $444.07 and last traded at $446.83. Approximately 486,589 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 2,295,143 shares. The stock had previously closed at $453.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GS shares. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $410.00 to $430.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $424.00 to $433.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $435.00 to $440.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $479.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $440.57.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $437.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $401.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.93 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.39.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.86% and a net margin of 8.17%. 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company 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 $2.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GS. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 28.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,232 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.2% during the third quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 14,284 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $4,622,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth about $370,000. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.5% during the third quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 2,685 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $869,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.8% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 183,435 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $59,523,000 after acquiring an additional 8,324 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.