The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Hits New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. reached a new 52-week high of $774.47, with shares recently trading at $769.95 and a significant trading volume of 1,996,070 shares.
• Wall Street analysts rate Goldman Sachs with a consensus of "Hold," though price targets vary, with Citigroup raising their target to $700 and HSBC maintaining a "reduce" rating with a target of $627.
• The company's recent earnings report showed Q2 EPS of $10.91, exceeding estimates, and a quarterly dividend increase from $3.00 to $4.00 per share, reflecting strong revenue growth of 14.5% year-over-year.

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $774.47 and last traded at $769.95, with a volume of 1996070 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $763.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GS. Wall Street Zen raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and set a $627.00 price objective (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $660.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $233.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $726.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $629.25.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $9.82 by $1.09. The firm had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $4.00 per share. This is an increase from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total transaction of $4,706,944.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 126,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $89,876,426.56. The trade was a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total transaction of $6,754,590.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 106,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at $79,755,196.68. This represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,989,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $583,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 3,817 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,186,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 8,306 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $4,756,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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