Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $600.00 to $680.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the investment management company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.57% from the stock’s current price.

GS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $563.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $535.75.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.8 %

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $593.54 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $518.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $488.78. The Goldman Sachs Group has a twelve month low of $334.55 and a twelve month high of $607.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm had revenue of $12.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.47 EPS. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $594.51, for a total value of $1,768,072.74. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at $5,046,795.39. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock valued at $6,656,119. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 7,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,713,325,000 after acquiring an additional 7,475,140 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,102.4% in the 2nd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 810,836 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $366,780,000 after acquiring an additional 743,402 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7,932.6% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 444,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $200,959,000 after purchasing an additional 438,754 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 878.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 397,082 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $179,608,000 after purchasing an additional 356,512 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

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.