Goldman Sachs has erased the losses flagged in last week's note and then some, rallying 7% over the past week to close at $994.52 — but the options market hasn't fully bought into the recovery.
The defensive shift in options positioning that drove last week's note has eased but not disappeared. The put/call ratio pulled back to 0.90 from the 0.915 reading of seven days ago, yet it remains above its 20-day average of 0.87 — roughly 0.9 standard deviations elevated. That's a far cry from the 52-week low this column flagged two weeks ago, and it tells a story of cautious participation: investors are buying into the rally while keeping some downside cover in place. The borrow market remains a non-event. Availability is an extraordinary 5,957% — more than 146 million shares sitting unlent against a short interest position of under 7 million — and cost to borrow has actually dipped further to 0.31%, down from 0.45% last week. Short interest itself nudged up about 1.6% on the week to 2.2% of the free float, a level so low it carries no tactical meaning. There is no short-side pressure here.
The Street's positioning on Goldman tells a nuanced story. The consensus is a buy, with six buy-rated analysts on the latest count. BofA maintained its Buy and held a $1,050 target after cutting from $1,100 post-Q1 — a trimmed target that the stock is now within striking distance of, trading at $994. Wells Fargo's Overweight-rated analyst cut to $1,000 from $1,050 in mid-April, a target the stock is effectively testing right now. The neutral camp — Citigroup raised its target to $930 on May 8 while keeping a Neutral rating — is already underwater. That divergence is worth watching: the bulls set targets that looked conservative a week ago and now look immediately relevant. Factor scores offer a modest backdrop: the dividend score ranks in the 92nd percentile, EPS surprise history lands at the 73rd percentile, and the ORTEX short score of 33 — near the low end — confirms the stock sits far from squeeze territory.
Insider activity adds a mild counterpoint to the rally. CFO Denis Coleman sold approximately $6.7 million in stock on May 14 across multiple tranches, all priced between $972 and $975. Chief Legal Officer Kathryn Ruemmler sold roughly $12.3 million across six transactions on May 6. Both executives sold into strength as the stock recovered off its April lows. The 90-day net insider figure is positive at around $93 million, but that number reflects the broader reporting window rather than a recent buying surge — recent visible activity is entirely on the sell side.
Peers confirmed the risk-on week broadly. MS gained 4.7% and EVR added 3.6%, while STT popped nearly 3% on the day alone. BLK was the laggard, slipping 0.8% on the week. Goldman's outperformance is consistent with the pattern noted over recent weeks — strong relative momentum versus financial-sector peers with more volatile or crypto-adjacent exposures.
The next scheduled earnings release is July 14. Between now and then, the question is whether the options market's residual caution resolves toward the bullish consensus — or whether the insider selling and still-elevated PCR reflect something more considered about the stock's proximity to sell-side price targets.
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