The Goldman Sachs Group (GS) Competitors

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) are related large-cap companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Is GS or AAPL more profitable?

Apple has a net margin of 24.30% compared to The Goldman Sachs Group's net margin of 12.37%. Apple's return on equity of 170.91% beat The Goldman Sachs Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
The Goldman Sachs Group	12.37%	14.32%	0.89%
Apple	24.30%	170.91%	31.94%

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, GS or AAPL?

Apple has higher revenue and earnings than The Goldman Sachs Group. The Goldman Sachs Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Apple, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
The Goldman Sachs Group	$56.21B	4.01	$14.28B	$45.38	16.43
Apple	$391.04B	8.81	$93.74B	$6.59	35.23

Which has more volatility & risk, GS or AAPL?

The Goldman Sachs Group has a beta of 1.41, suggesting that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Apple has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is GS or AAPL a better dividend stock?

The Goldman Sachs Group pays an annual dividend of $16.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Apple pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. The Goldman Sachs Group pays out 35.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Apple pays out 15.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. The Goldman Sachs Group has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Apple has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of GS or AAPL?

71.2% of The Goldman Sachs Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.7% of Apple shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of The Goldman Sachs Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Apple shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media prefer GS or AAPL?

In the previous week, Apple had 189 more articles in the media than The Goldman Sachs Group. MarketBeat recorded 269 mentions for Apple and 80 mentions for The Goldman Sachs Group. The Goldman Sachs Group's average media sentiment score of 1.08 beat Apple's score of 0.92 indicating that The Goldman Sachs Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
The Goldman Sachs Group	50 Very Positive mention(s)	8 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Apple	175 Very Positive mention(s)	37 Positive mention(s)	32 Neutral mention(s)	18 Negative mention(s)	6 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend GS or AAPL?

The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a consensus target price of $660.00, indicating a potential downside of 11.47%. Apple has a consensus target price of $237.37, indicating a potential upside of 2.25%. Given Apple's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Apple is more favorable than The Goldman Sachs Group.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
The Goldman Sachs Group	1 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33
Apple	2 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57

Summary

Apple beats The Goldman Sachs Group on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.