The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock Price Down 1.7% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) traded down 1.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $1,050.00 to $1,000.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group traded as low as $866.00 and last traded at $877.0710. 3,365,753 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 52% from the average daily volume of 2,219,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $891.91.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on GS. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on The Goldman Sachs Group from $1,220.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $1,150.00 to $1,010.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Loop Capital set a $1,050.00 price target on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $1,299.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered The Goldman Sachs Group from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,050.55.

More The Goldman Sachs Group News

Here are the key news stories impacting The Goldman Sachs Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q3 results: Goldman reported $17.01 in diluted EPS and $18.68 billion in revenue, well above estimates of $12.86 EPS and $16.83 billion in revenue. Net income rose 29% year over year, supported by a 72% jump in equities revenue to $6.44 billion and a 21% increase in investment-banking fees. Reuters earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns and business momentum: The board declared a $5 quarterly dividend, equivalent to $20 annually, while Goldman returned $4.49 billion to common shareholders during the quarter, including $3 billion in repurchases. CEO David Solomon also emphasized the firm’s diversified business, record wealth-management assets and favorable dealmaking environment. CNBC interview with David Solomon
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed trading outlook: Equities and investment banking were strong, but fixed-income and rates trading fell short of expectations. Solomon said abrupt interest-rate moves could create headwinds even as he characterized the underlying economy and market environment as resilient. Benzinga CEO outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Price-target reductions: Citigroup cut its target to $1,000 from $1,050 and assigned a Neutral rating, while RBC reduced its target to $1,010 from $1,220 and maintained Sector Perform. The revisions suggest analysts believe much of Goldman’s earnings strength is already reflected in the valuation. Analyst price-target revisions
• Negative Sentiment: Macro and regulatory pressure: Hotter-than-expected inflation has reinforced concerns that interest rates could remain elevated, weighing on financial stocks. Separately, a Treasury review found that large U.S. banks’ reputation-risk policies could allow political considerations to influence access to banking services, creating potential regulatory and reputational risks for Goldman. CNBC Treasury report

Institutional Trading of The Goldman Sachs Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GS. Orange County Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter valued at $69,537,544,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $24,172,123,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group in the 2nd quarter worth $6,756,772,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $2,560,028,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 1,657.7% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,596,487 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,282,312,000 after buying an additional 2,448,767 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Down 1.7%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $984.44 and a 200 day moving average of $989.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.63.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 13th. The investment management company reported $17.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $12.86 by $4.15. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 15.53% and a return on equity of 19.16%. The firm had revenue of $18.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $12.25 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 67.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $5.00 per share. This represents a $20.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 30.87%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company Profile

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1869, the firm provides services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, individuals and other clients through its investment banking, markets, asset management and wealth management businesses.

Goldman Sachs advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, financing and other strategic transactions, and facilitates trading in equities, fixed income, currencies and commodities.