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

Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) in a report released on Tuesday,MarketScreener Latest Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $843.00 price target on the investment management company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GS. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group upped 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 note on Tuesday, October 7th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $769.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 1.4%

GS stock opened at $757.33 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.23. The company’s 50 day moving average is $764.67 and its 200 day moving average is $668.27. The stock has a market cap of $229.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.42. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 1-year low of $439.38 and a 1-year high of $825.25.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last issued its earnings results 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 Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.79% and a net margin of 13.18%.The business had revenue of $11.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.40 earnings per share. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $4.00 per share. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend payout ratio is 32.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.51, for a total transaction of $6,754,590.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 106,268 shares in the company, valued at $79,755,196.68. This represents a 7.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David M. Solomon sold 6,608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.31, for a total value of $4,706,944.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 126,176 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $89,876,426.56. This represents a 4.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock worth $28,111,828. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GS. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,800.0% during the second quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 38 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First PREMIER Bank bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, American Capital Advisory LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group in the first quarter worth $29,000. 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.