Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock Price

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group's target price has been increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $785.00 to $855.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.57% from the previous close.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $10.91 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate by $1.09, and its revenue increased by 14.5% year-over-year.
• Insider trading activity showed that executives, including CEO David M. Solomon, sold shares, reducing their ownership positions by approximately 5% to 8%.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Free Report) had its target price increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $785.00 to $855.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the investment management company's stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on GS. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and set a $627.00 price target (up from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $771.00 to $790.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $665.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

Shares of GS traded up $0.14 on Tuesday, reaching $804.45. 3,788,014 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,604,564. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The stock has a market cap of $243.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.41. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $738.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $638.00. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 52-week low of $439.38 and a 52-week high of $809.66.

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

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $4.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. 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 2.0%. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is 35.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total value of $6,934,016.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 115,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at $86,463,679.48. This trade represents a 7.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John F.W. Rogers sold 6,008 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.39, for a total value of $4,310,079.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at $47,176,283.79. The trade was a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GS. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position 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 worth $1,989,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position 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 worth $508,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $583,000. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 6,513 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,729,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.