The Goldman Sachs Group's (GS) "Neutral" Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has reiterated its "neutral" rating for The Goldman Sachs Group, setting a price objective of $843.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.28% from the current stock price.
• The company's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $12.25, exceeding expectations, though revenue of $11.33 billion fell short of analysts' estimates.
• Consensus ratings for the stock indicate five Buy ratings, fourteen Hold ratings, and one Sell rating, with a current average price target of $746.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reissued by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,MarketScreener Latest Ratings reports. They presently have a $843.00 price objective on the investment management company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective indicates a potential upside of 9.28% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on GS. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $762.00 to $805.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $790.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $746.69.

The Goldman Sachs Group Price Performance

NYSE GS traded down $15.34 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $771.44. The stock had a trading volume of 4,196,877 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,400,612. The firm's 50 day moving average is $762.04 and its 200 day moving average is $665.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.00, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The Goldman Sachs Group has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $825.25.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 14th. The investment management company reported $12.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $10.27 by $1.98. The firm had revenue of $11.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.68 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 14.32%. The Goldman Sachs Group's revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $4,310,079.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 65,761 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,176,283.79. This trade represents a 8.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total transaction of $6,934,016.84. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 115,268 shares in the company, valued at $86,463,679.48. This represents a 7.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes 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 valued at $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,279 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 73.7% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 3,419 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 48.1% during the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 5,131 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares during the period. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.