Key Insights

Institutions' substantial holdings in Goldman Sachs Group implies that they have significant influence over the company's share price A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 50% ownership Insiders have been buying lately

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To get a sense of who is truly in control of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. With 79% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And things are looking up for institutional investors after the company gained US$17b in market cap last week. The gains from last week would have further boosted the one-year return to shareholders which currently stand at 34%.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Goldman Sachs Group.

Check out our latest analysis for Goldman Sachs Group NYSE:GS Ownership Breakdown May 15th 2025

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Goldman Sachs Group?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that Goldman Sachs Group does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Goldman Sachs Group, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.NYSE:GS Earnings and Revenue Growth May 15th 2025

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Goldman Sachs Group is not owned by hedge funds. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is currently the company's largest shareholder with 10.0% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 8.1% and 6.7% of the stock.

A closer look at our ownership figures suggests that the top 25 shareholders have a combined ownership of 50% implying that no single shareholder has a majority.

Story Continues

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of Goldman Sachs Group

While the precise definition of an insider can be subjective, almost everyone considers board members to be insiders. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own less than 1% of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own US$1.0b worth of shares. It is always good to see at least some insider ownership, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 20% stake in Goldman Sachs Group. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Case in point: We've spotted  1 warning sign for Goldman Sachs Group you should be aware of.

But ultimately  it is the future, not the past, that will determine how well the owners of this business will do. Therefore we think it advisable to take a look at this free report showing whether analysts are predicting a brighter future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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