Morgan Stanley Cuts The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Price Target to $475.00

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) had its target price trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $486.00 to $475.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the investment management company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $479.00 to $517.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. HSBC boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $470.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Argus upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $465.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $349.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $443.78.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GS opened at $452.32 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $145.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $449.86 and its 200 day moving average is $410.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The Goldman Sachs Group has a fifty-two week low of $289.36 and a fifty-two week high of $471.48.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.86%. The firm had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 36.59 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $2.75 per share. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total value of $2,161,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $432.25, for a total value of $2,161,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,475,456.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 4,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,981,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,299,679.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,903,374,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,120,119,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,184,196 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $842,597,000 after buying an additional 464,954 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,693,331 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,842,192,000 after acquiring an additional 412,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 26,378.2% in the first quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 407,764 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 406,224 shares during the period. 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.