The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Shares Down 1%

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $395.18 and last traded at $396.86. 3,459,728 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 61% from the average session volume of 2,148,238 shares. The stock had previously closed at $400.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $410.00 to $425.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $410.00 to $430.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Argus raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $465.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $424.00 to $433.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $440.00 to $460.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $434.93.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $131.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.43. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $395.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $365.35.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The business had revenue of $14.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $8.79 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 32.76 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total transaction of $5,001,372.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,602,947.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Sheara J. Fredman sold 4,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $380.15, for a total value of $1,634,645.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,357,659.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 12,680 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $394.43, for a total value of $5,001,372.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,417 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,602,947.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,907 shares of company stock valued at $13,950,851 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at $1,903,374,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,120,119,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,936,351 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,038,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,350 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 168,772.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,244,589 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $427,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243,852 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 27,076.5% in the third quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 653,322 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $211,396,000 after buying an additional 650,918 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company's stock.

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.