The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading 0.4% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s stock price was up 0.4% during trading on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $485.00 to $585.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group traded as high as $601.86 and last traded at $598.48. Approximately 327,000 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 2,213,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $596.11.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on GS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $614.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $542.00.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares in the company, valued at $5,359,435.50. The trade was a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. This trade represents a 25.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 4,230 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,094,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 375 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,553 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 27,271 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $13,502,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $188.46 billion, a PE ratio of 17.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $527.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $492.68.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.21%.

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.