The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Price Target Raised to $720.00

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) had its price objective lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $680.00 to $720.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the investment management company’s stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on GS. HSBC lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $569.00 to $608.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $593.56.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS opened at $625.70 on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 1 year low of $381.42 and a 1 year high of $672.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $611.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $557.71.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 3,640 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.74, for a total transaction of $2,317,733.60. Following the transaction, the treasurer now directly owns 4,552 shares in the company, valued at $2,898,440.48. The trade was a 44.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total transaction of $1,275,338.34. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,047,349.55. This represents a 23.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,475 shares of company stock valued at $19,692,543. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 339,047 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $167,866,000 after acquiring an additional 13,730 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank purchased a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.2% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,804 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $893,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 14.9% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,464 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $725,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Saxony Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter valued at $236,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.