The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading 1.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s stock price rose 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $614.00 to $661.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group traded as high as $520.54 and last traded at $519.03. Approximately 389,595 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 2,181,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at $511.47.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on GS. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $460.00 to $485.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $360.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $565.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $527.63.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total value of $1,061,800.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,359,435.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 5.5% during the third quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 830 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 4,582 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after buying an additional 761 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 62.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,632,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter valued at about $1,388,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 34.2% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 8,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,448,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 2.5 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $502.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $478.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.05% and a net margin of 9.89%. The business had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.14 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 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.