The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock Price Up 0.6%

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s stock price shot up 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $491.80 and last traded at $488.59. 299,020 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 2,338,591 shares. The stock had previously closed at $485.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $461.00 to $464.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $490.00 to $535.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $504.00 to $559.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $495.94.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.37. The company’s 50 day moving average is $473.25 and its 200-day moving average is $434.43.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 15th. The investment management company reported $8.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.52 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $12.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.60 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 10.26% and a net margin of 9.36%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.74 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from The Goldman Sachs Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.86%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total value of $25,360,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,299,679.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,500 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.99, for a total value of $1,770,965.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,119,949.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.34, for a total transaction of $25,360,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,013,500 shares of company stock worth $32,181,365. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GS. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently 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.