Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock Price

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $570.00 to $592.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the investment management company's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price indicates a potential downside of 7.98% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $690.00 to $660.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of 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. Daiwa America cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $595.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

NYSE GS traded up $2.52 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $643.32. The stock had a trading volume of 1,194,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,370,990. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 52-week low of $437.37 and a 52-week high of $672.19. The company has a market cap of $197.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $581.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $584.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.41.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $12.57 by $1.55. The company had revenue of $15.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.99 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 11.86%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $11.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John B. Hess bought 3,904 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $511.68 per share, with a total value of $1,997,598.72. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GS. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,584,202 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,761,576,000 after acquiring an additional 161,500 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,155,336 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,524,669,000 after purchasing an additional 112,696 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,172,423,000 after acquiring an additional 3,970,467 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,053,614,000 after purchasing an additional 687,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.2% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,804 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,820,677,000 after buying an additional 40,125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

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.

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