The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after HSBC raised their price target on the stock from $432.00 to $460.00. HSBC currently has a buy rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group traded as high as $419.20 and last traded at $418.07, with a volume of 259021 shares. The stock had previously closed at $415.25.

Several other analysts also recently commented on GS. Edward Jones started coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $357.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 18th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $440.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $333.00 to $449.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $411.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.39, for a total transaction of $1,129,170.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,121 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,443.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 3,000 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.39, for a total value of $1,129,170.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,121 shares in the company, valued at $3,809,443.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total transaction of $5,001,372.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,602,947.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,907 shares of company stock valued at $15,080,021 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,120,119,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,936,351 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,038,425,000 after buying an additional 1,696,350 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 168,772.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244,589 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $427,367,000 after buying an additional 1,243,852 shares during the period. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,300,710,000. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 27,076.5% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 653,322 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $211,396,000 after buying an additional 650,918 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $387.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $357.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 16th. The investment management company reported $5.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $1.86. The company had revenue of $11.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.80 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 8.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.32 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 33.13 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th will be given a dividend of $2.75 per share. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 48.20%.

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.