Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) Stock Price

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS) had its target price boosted by Royal Bank Of Canada from $843.00 to $900.00 in a report published on Friday morning,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the investment management company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on GS. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $785.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $685.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $652.00 to $677.00 in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $854.00 to $828.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $787.06.

The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 2.5%

The Goldman Sachs Group stock opened at $887.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $266.31 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50-day moving average is $800.00 and its 200-day moving average is $743.23. The Goldman Sachs Group has a fifty-two week low of $439.38 and a fifty-two week high of $919.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $10.27 by $1.98. The business had revenue of $15.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.68 billion. The Goldman Sachs Group had a net margin of 13.18% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The Goldman Sachs Group’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $8.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Goldman Sachs Group will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 2nd will be given a $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group’s payout ratio is presently 32.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On The Goldman Sachs Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 617,504.5% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 29,058,291 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $20,566,005,000 after purchasing an additional 29,053,586 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $2,138,031,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 110.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,780,620 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,417,997,000 after buying an additional 936,015 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in The Goldman Sachs Group during the second quarter worth about $408,780,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 2,429.6% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 485,375 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $343,524,000 after buying an additional 466,187 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.21% of the company’s stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company Profile

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.