The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $653.03 and last traded at $655.37, with a volume of 162513 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $645.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $485.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $677.00 to $639.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $736.00 to $782.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.06.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $599.07 and its 200-day moving average is $545.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The company had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.36 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s quarterly revenue was up 22.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 EPS for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is 29.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Alex S. Golten sold 5,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,255,506.25. This represents a 59.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total value of $965,115.15. Following the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,475 shares of company stock valued at $19,692,543. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. West Branch Capital LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.0% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 63 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.