The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading 1.4% Higher - Still a Buy?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 1.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $601.83 and last traded at $599.88. 616,743 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 2,371,330 shares. The stock had previously closed at $591.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $760.00 to $720.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $558.00 target price on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Oppenheimer downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $585.00 to $550.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $593.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.8%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $537.68 and a 200 day moving average of $577.73. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $189.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.32.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $12.57 by $1.55. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The firm had revenue of $15.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $11.58 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is currently 27.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In related news, Director John B. Hess bought 3,904 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,997,598.72. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,904 shares in the company, valued at $1,997,598.72. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,584,202 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $3,761,576,000 after purchasing an additional 161,500 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $3,524,669,000 after purchasing an additional 112,696 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 63,864.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,976,684 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $2,172,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,970,467 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,586,348 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,053,614,000 after acquiring an additional 687,711 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,332,804 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,820,677,000 after acquiring an additional 40,125 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.