Both retail investors who control a good portion of Anteris Technologies Ltd (ASX:AVR) along with institutions must be dismayed after last week's 11% decrease

Key Insights

• Significant control over Anteris Technologies by retail investors implies that the general public has more power to influence management and governance-related decisions
• 49% of the business is held by the top 21 shareholders
• Institutional ownership in Anteris Technologies is 28%

Every investor in Anteris Technologies Ltd (ASX:AVR) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. With 51% stake, retail investors possess the maximum shares in the company. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

While the holdings of retail investors took a hit after last week’s 11% price drop, institutions with their 28% holdings also suffered.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Anteris Technologies.

See our latest analysis for Anteris Technologies

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Anteris Technologies?

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 Anteris Technologies 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. 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 Anteris Technologies' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in Anteris Technologies. The company's largest shareholder is L1 Capital Pty. Limited, with ownership of 17%. Meanwhile, the second and third largest shareholders, hold 10% and 3.5%, of the shares outstanding, respectively.

On studying our ownership data, we found that 21 of the top shareholders collectively own less than 50% of the share register, implying that no single individual has a majority interest.

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. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Anteris Technologies

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.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

We can see that insiders own shares in Anteris Technologies Ltd. It has a market capitalization of just AU$249m, and insiders have AU$15m worth of shares, in their own names. It is good to see some investment by insiders, but we usually like to see higher insider holdings. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public -- including retail investors -- own 51% of Anteris Technologies. With this amount of ownership, retail investors can collectively play a role in decisions that affect shareholder returns, such as dividend policies and the appointment of directors. They can also exercise the power to vote on acquisitions or mergers that may not improve profitability.

Private Equity Ownership

With an ownership of 10%, private equity firms are in a position to play a role in shaping corporate strategy with a focus on value creation. Some might like this, because private equity are sometimes activists who hold management accountable. But other times, private equity is selling out, having taking the company public.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 5.4%, of the shares on issue. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Anteris Technologies better, we need to consider many other factors. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Anteris Technologies you should be aware of, and 1 of them is concerning.

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.