DO & CO Aktiengesellschaft's (VIE:DOC) high institutional ownership speaks for itself as stock continues to impress, up 5.2% over last week

Key Insights

• Significantly high institutional ownership implies DO & CO's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions
• The top 6 shareholders own 51% of the company
• Analyst forecasts along with ownership data serve to give a strong idea about prospects for a business

A look at the shareholders of DO & CO Aktiengesellschaft (VIE:DOC) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are institutions with 42% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

And as as result, institutional investors reaped the most rewards after the company's stock price gained 5.2% last week. The one-year return on investment is currently 37% and last week's gain would have been more than welcomed.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about DO & CO.

See our latest analysis for DO & CO

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About DO & CO?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

DO & CO already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. 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 DO & CO, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.

DO & CO is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Attila Dogudan Privatstiftung is the largest shareholder with 30% of shares outstanding. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 7.1% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 4.5% by the third-largest shareholder.

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 6 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

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 a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of DO & CO

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.

We note our data does not show any board members holding shares, personally. Not all jurisdictions have the same rules around disclosing insider ownership, and it is possible we have missed something, here. So you can click here learn more about the CEO.

General Public Ownership

The general public-- including retail investors -- own 28% stake in the company, and hence can't easily be ignored. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.

Private Company Ownership

It seems that Private Companies own 30%, of the DO & CO stock. It might be worth looking deeper into this. If related parties, such as insiders, have an interest in one of these private companies, that should be disclosed in the annual report. Private companies may also have a strategic interest in the company.

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. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with DO & CO , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.

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.