The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Trading 4.1% Higher - Time to Buy?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 4.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $551.79 and last traded at $541.27. Approximately 1,392,908 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 41% from the average daily volume of 2,366,580 shares. The stock had previously closed at $519.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on GS shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $690.00 to $660.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $558.00 target price on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $625.00 to $614.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Daiwa America cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $593.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.1 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $548.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $573.94. The company has a market cap of $170.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 11.32% and a return on equity of 13.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $11.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $3.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The Goldman Sachs Group's payout ratio is 27.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John B. Hess purchased 3,904 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now owns 3,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,997,598.72. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.25, for a total value of $3,313,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,255,506.25. This represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.5% in 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 buying an additional 161,500 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1.9% during the fourth 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 boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased 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 valued at $2,053,614,000 after buying an additional 687,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,292,679 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,885,454,000 after buying an additional 428,502 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by 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.