The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Sell”

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

GS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $660.00 to $594.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $610.00 to $560.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded The Goldman Sachs Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $560.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $558.00 target price on The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, The Goldman Sachs Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $593.40.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 1.9%

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $613.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The Goldman Sachs Group has a 1-year low of $437.37 and a 1-year high of $672.19. The company has a market cap of $188.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $568.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $583.37.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The investment management company reported $14.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $12.57 by $1.55. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 13.30% and a net margin of 11.32%. The firm had revenue of $15.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $11.58 earnings per share. On average, 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is currently 27.85%.

Insider Activity at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other news, Director John B. Hess purchased 3,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $511.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,997,598.72. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,997,598.72. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,989,000 after buying an additional 508 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in the fourth quarter worth about $32,815,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $508,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,320 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,619,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 27,935 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $15,996,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the period. 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.