The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $1.55 EPS

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Monday. The investment management company reported $14.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.57 by $1.55, Zacks reports. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The firm had revenue of $15.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $11.58 EPS.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GS traded up $10.78 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $509.83. 2,587,774 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,378,230. The business's 50-day moving average price is $564.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $572.11. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 12 month low of $402.41 and a 12 month high of $672.19. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $159.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.59%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, Director John B. Hess acquired 3,904 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $511.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,997,598.72. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,997,598.72. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 2,034 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.01, for a total value of $1,275,338.34. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 6,455 shares in the company, valued at $4,047,349.55. This trade represents a 23.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock worth $12,630,683 in the last quarter. 0.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

An institutional investor recently raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group stock. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 888 shares of the investment management company's stock after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $508,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GS. Morgan Stanley set a $558.00 target price on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $660.00 to $594.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $614.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $593.40.

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.