Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock Price

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $736.00 to $782.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the investment management company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $686.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer cut their price target 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. JMP Securities upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $610.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $589.19.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS opened at $626.84 on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 1 year low of $372.07 and a 1 year high of $627.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $587.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $529.85. The company has a market capitalization of $196.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.21 by $3.74. The business had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 9.89%. The business’s revenue was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 37.24 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 35.21%.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,974 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 8,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,046,795.39. The trade was a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total transaction of $3,826,245.76. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,614 shares in the company, valued at $34,358,685.04. This trade represents a 10.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,940 shares of company stock valued at $12,656,179. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GS. 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 valued at $3,713,325,000 after buying an additional 7,475,140 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,898,637 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,435,144,000 after purchasing an additional 521,054 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7,932.6% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 444,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $200,959,000 after purchasing an additional 438,754 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 154.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 414,867 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $205,403,000 after purchasing an additional 251,972 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 829.0% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 260,317 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $128,886,000 after purchasing an additional 232,297 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company Profile

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.