The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Downgraded by Oppenheimer to “Market Perform”

Oppenheimer downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

GS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays raised their price objective on The Goldman Sachs Group from $713.00 to $760.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $550.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $594.27.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Up 0.4 %

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $565.00 on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group has a twelve month low of $387.12 and a twelve month high of $672.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $176.30 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $610.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $568.09.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The investment management company reported $11.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.21 by $3.74. The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

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 issued a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $12.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s dividend 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 3,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,255,506.25. This represents a 59.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Treasurer Carey Halio sold 1,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $624.67, for a total value of $965,115.15. Following the completion of the sale, the treasurer now directly owns 8,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,117,296.64. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,925 shares of company stock valued at $12,630,683 in the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GS. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the third quarter worth $34,000. 71.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.