The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research has downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" rating, reflecting a shift in investor sentiment.
• Despite the downgrade, the stock has an average price target of $665.00 with five analysts giving it a Buy rating and eleven issuing a Hold rating.
• Goldman Sachs reported strong quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $10.91, surpassing analysts' expectations by $1.09.

Zacks Research downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. HSBC reaffirmed a "reduce" rating and set a $627.00 target price (up previously from $558.00) on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $665.00.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

GS traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $804.45. The stock had a trading volume of 3,788,014 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,604,564. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $738.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $638.30. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 1 year low of $439.38 and a 1 year high of $809.66. The stock has a market cap of $243.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 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 Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The company had revenue of $14.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $4.00 per share. 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 currently 35.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,469,493.60. The trade was a 28.64% 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 valued at $28,111,828. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 3.4% during the second quarter. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC now owns 429 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 31.1% during the second quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 59 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.1% during the second quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 668 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.2% during the second quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 653 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.7% during the second quarter. Dumont & Blake Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $1,586,000 after purchasing an additional 15 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.