The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) To Go Ex-Dividend on February 28th

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 16th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 3.00 per share by the investment management company on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th.

The Goldman Sachs Group has raised its dividend by an average of 21.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 13 years. The Goldman Sachs Group has a dividend payout ratio of 24.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect The Goldman Sachs Group to earn $43.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $12.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.7%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS stock opened at $626.84 on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 12 month low of $372.07 and a 12 month high of $627.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $586.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $528.71. The firm has a market cap of $196.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.48 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GS shares. Hsbc Global Res downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $589.19.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $610.91, for a total transaction of $4,001,460.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 117,883 shares in the company, valued at $72,015,903.53. This trade represents a 5.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,940 shares of company stock worth $12,656,179. Company insiders own 0.57% 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.