The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Rating Increased to Buy at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $465.00 price target on the investment management company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on GS. Barclays upped their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $437.00 to $493.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $506.00 to $446.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. HSBC boosted their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $432.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a market outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $333.00 to $449.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $434.93.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE GS opened at $404.00 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.43. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 52-week low of $289.36 and a 52-week high of $419.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $396.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $366.20.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 8.65% and a net margin of 8.17%. The business 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 business posted $8.79 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 35.15 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $2.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 42.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $379.81, for a total transaction of $2,763,877.37. Following the sale, the insider now owns 6,501 shares in the company, valued at $2,469,144.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Kathryn H. Ruemmler sold 7,277 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.81, for a total transaction of $2,763,877.37. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,501 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,469,144.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 4,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $380.15, for a total transaction of $1,634,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,463 shares in the company, valued at $4,357,659.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,907 shares of company stock worth $13,950,851. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $66,000. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,505.1% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 41,300 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $13,633,000 after buying an additional 38,727 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 18.5% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 118,609 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $39,153,000 after buying an additional 18,540 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 79.4% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 827 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 118.3% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 310 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.