Insiders seem to have made the most of their holdings by selling US$18m worth of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) stock at an average sell price of US$380 during the past year. After the stock price dropped 4.1% last week, the company's market value declined by US$4.5b, but insiders were able to mitigate their losses.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

See our latest analysis for Goldman Sachs Group

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Goldman Sachs Group

In the last twelve months, the biggest single sale by an insider was when the Non-Executive Director, David Viniar, sold US$7.0m worth of shares at a price of US$411 per share. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. It's of some comfort that this sale was conducted at a price well above the current share price, which is US$326. So it may not shed much light on insider confidence at current levels.

Insiders in Goldman Sachs Group didn't buy any shares in the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Goldman Sachs Group Insiders Are Selling The Stock

The last three months saw significant insider selling at Goldman Sachs Group. In total, Global Treasurer Philip Berlinski dumped US$2.8m worth of shares in that time, and we didn't record any purchases whatsoever. In light of this it's hard to argue that all the insiders think that the shares are a bargain.

Insider Ownership

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. Goldman Sachs Group insiders own 0.5% of the company, currently worth about US$542m based on the recent share price. Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Do The Goldman Sachs Group Insider Transactions Indicate?

An insider sold stock recently, but they haven't been buying. Looking to the last twelve months, our data doesn't show any insider buying. While insiders do own a lot of shares in the company (which is good), our analysis of their transactions doesn't make us feel confident about the company. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it's beneficial to identify the risks facing Goldman Sachs Group. For example - Goldman Sachs Group has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.