The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock Price Up 0.4% on Analyst Upgrade

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 0.4% on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $485.00 to $585.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group traded as high as $601.86 and last traded at $598.48. Approximately 327,000 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 2,213,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $596.11.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on GS. UBS Group lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $560.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $555.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $560.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $472.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $542.00.

Insider Transactions at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, insider Brian J. Lee sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $530.90, for a total transaction of $1,061,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,095 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,359,435.50. This trade represents a 16.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $596.36, for a total transaction of $3,826,245.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,358,685.04. This trade represents a 10.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,390 shares of company stock worth $6,656,119. Insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 30,068.9% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,102.4% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 810,836 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $366,780,000 after purchasing an additional 743,402 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 21.9% during the 3rd 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. lifted its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7,932.6% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 444,285 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $200,959,000 after purchasing an additional 438,754 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 878.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 397,082 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $179,608,000 after purchasing an additional 356,512 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $529.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $493.78. The company has a market cap of $189.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.35. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The investment management company reported $8.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.89 by $1.51. The company had revenue of $12.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 37.15 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.21%.

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.