AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik Aktiengesellschaft's (VIE:ATS) market cap dropped €221m last week; individual investors who hold 49% were hit as were institutions

If you want to know who really controls AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik Aktiengesellschaft (VIE:ATS), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 49% stake, individual investors possess the maximum shares in the company. In other words, the group stands to gain the most (or lose the most) from their investment into the company.

Following a 14% decrease in the stock price last week, individual investors suffered the most losses, but institutions who own 34% stock also took a hit.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik.

If you're not interested in researching ATS's ownership structure, we have a free list of interesting investing ideas to potentially inspire your next investment!

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik is not owned by hedge funds. Our data shows that Johannes Dörflinger-Stiftung, Endowment Arm is the largest shareholder with 18% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 18% and 2.2% of the stock.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. 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 AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.

Our data cannot confirm that board members are holding shares personally. It is unusual not to have at least some personal holdings by board members, so our data might be flawed. A good next step would be to check how much the CEO is paid.

General Public Ownership

With a 49% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik. This size of ownership, while considerable, may not be enough to change company policy if the decision is not in sync with other large shareholders.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 18%, of the company's shares. 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:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks for example - AT & S Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik has 2 warning signs we think you should be aware of.

If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.

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.