The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Shares Up 0.8%

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) shares were up 0.8% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $443.88 and last traded at $441.84. Approximately 587,289 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 2,354,867 shares. The stock had previously closed at $438.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on GS shares. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $479.00 to $517.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $333.00 to $449.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Edward Jones started coverage on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $440.57.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $145.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $406.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $377.23. 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 Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 15th. The investment management company reported $11.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.54 by $3.04. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The firm had revenue of $14.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $8.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 36.07 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 30th will be paid a $2.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.95%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at $269,475,456.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director David A. Viniar sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 623,425 shares in the company, valued at $269,475,456.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Treasurer Philip R. Berlinski sold 11,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.64, for a total transaction of $4,550,956.00. Following the sale, the treasurer now owns 18,408 shares in the company, valued at $7,190,901.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 29,330 shares of company stock worth $11,713,578. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter worth about $25,000. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 106.3% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 66 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 82.0% in the third quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 91 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.